Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Hemington Wealth Management

Hemington Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,155 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.2% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 16,975 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,985 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 808,863 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $91,400,000 after purchasing an additional 50,592 shares during the period. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, Occidental Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $219,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $130.48 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $132.50. The company has a market cap of $226.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $118.05 and a 200-day moving average of $115.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

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.