Scissortail Wealth Management LLC Invests $1.78 Million in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Scissortail Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 15,674 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,778,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 132.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 333 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $109.20. The stock had a trading volume of 7,279,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,590,588. The company has a market cap of $189.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $114.67 and a 200 day moving average of $107.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TheStreet raised Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.14.

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.