Apollon Wealth Management LLC Buys 31,820 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 51.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,919 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,820 shares during the quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $10,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Welch Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares during the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,791,000 after buying an additional 5,881 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,828,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,091,000 after purchasing an additional 31,720 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on ABT. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE ABT opened at $129.11 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $132.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $223.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.