Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by MONECO Advisors LLC

MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 305.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,952 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,507 shares during the quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 236.0% during the 4th quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 336 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded down $1.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $105.94. The company had a trading volume of 5,073,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,625,535. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.34. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The stock has a market cap of $183.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.16, a PEG ratio of 2.59 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.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048 over the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.