Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by State of Wyoming

State of Wyoming increased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 661.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,832 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,935 shares during the period. State of Wyoming’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABT. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,873 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $551,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $200,000. Capital & Planning LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $981,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 50,340 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,694,000 after buying an additional 7,316 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $640,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $134.79 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $234.51 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s fifty day moving average is $129.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.17. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.61%.

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.