Forum Financial Management LP Buys 942 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Forum Financial Management LP boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,573 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 942 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,625,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Welch Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,744,000 after acquiring an additional 3,479 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $133,691,000 after acquiring an additional 57,499 shares in the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,791,000 after purchasing an additional 5,881 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,828,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $131.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $227.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $130.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ABT. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Ménière’s disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.