Ghe LLC Increases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Ghe LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,547 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Ghe LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,381,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,413 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $331,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Cedar Brook Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 19.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cedar Brook Financial Partners LLC now owns 5,221 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 65.3% in the 3rd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 762 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 83.3% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,506 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,858,000 after purchasing an additional 13,406 shares during the period. Finally, Nikulski Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nikulski Financial Inc. now owns 11,168 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 894 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the 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 $114,115.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. 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 in the last 90 days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:ABT traded down $0.70 on Wednesday, reaching $106.89. The stock had a trading volume of 5,050,066 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,719,627. The company has a market cap of $185.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $113.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.97. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.