GGM Financials LLC Invests $476,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

GGM Financials LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,581 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $476,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $113.27. The stock had a trading volume of 4,320,139 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,906,677. The firm has a market cap of $197.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.68. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $106.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.80.

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.