Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by Nvwm LLC

Nvwm LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,884 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 51.3% during the third quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 363 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $129.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.89, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $129.85. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $10.97 billion for 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%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

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.