Paladin Wealth LLC Acquires 339 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Paladin Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,899 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 339 shares during the period. Paladin Wealth LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.8 %

ABT stock opened at $131.36 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $117.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $115.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $132.50.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. StockNews.com raised Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction 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 approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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.