Values Added Financial LLC Purchases 290 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Values Added Financial LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 14.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,306 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Values Added Financial LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $113.27. 4,320,139 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,906,677. The stock has a market cap of $197.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.29, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $106.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. Finally, Citigroup boosted 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.80.

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.