Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. Has $6.97 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,657 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 1.3% of Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,974,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. VELA Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 35,636 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,031,000 after acquiring an additional 1,197 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 16,708 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,890,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA now owns 12,357 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares during the period. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 15,539 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 15,103 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,708,000 after buying an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $135.89 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $136.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $122.60 and its 200 day moving average is $117.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $235.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.