Balefire LLC Has $470,000 Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Balefire LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,539 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 143 shares during the quarter. Balefire LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $945,453,000 after acquiring an additional 6,628,310 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $137.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $132.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $127.30. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $239.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABT. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 price target (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.61.

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.