Banque de Luxembourg S.A. Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $481,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Three Seasons Wealth LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,428,000. Welch Group LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,744,000 after acquiring an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $273,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $133,691,000 after purchasing an additional 57,499 shares during the period. Finally, Bath Savings Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,791,000 after purchasing an additional 5,881 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 price target (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859 in the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $132.92 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $230.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $122.96. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

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.