Private Advisor Group LLC Acquires 90,662 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Private Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 56.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 250,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 90,662 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $28,287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABT. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 268,538 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $30,616,000 after buying an additional 40,783 shares during the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 2,503 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $142,000. Finally, Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $206,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $130.12 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $132.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $119.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABT. UBS Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

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.