Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC Raises Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 46,546 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,751 shares during the quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,123,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ABT. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.00.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of ABT traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $113.64. 5,278,016 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,747,185. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $115.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.42. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.94, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

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.