Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 38.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,017 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 834 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $341,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. United Bank boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 16,293 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 333.8% during the 3rd quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 269,531 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $30,729,000 after buying an additional 207,393 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 588.0% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 336,537 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $38,388,000 after purchasing an additional 287,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Concentric Capital Strategies LP grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 160.6% during the 3rd quarter. Concentric Capital Strategies LP now owns 7,926 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $904,000 after buying an additional 4,884 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’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 value of $131,123.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.5 %

ABT opened at $132.76 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.51. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.