Stokes Family Office LLC Boosts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Stokes Family Office LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 25,948 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Stokes Family Office LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $126.18 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. 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 capitalization of $218.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $127.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.67.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 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.