VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Takes Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 688 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $78,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.1 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $127.64 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The firm has a market cap of $221.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $127.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.73. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

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.