NewSquare Capital LLC Boosts Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 78.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $27,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’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 value of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 25,282 shares of company stock valued at $3,263,348. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.19.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $137.68 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $238.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $124.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.42.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share 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 business 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 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

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.