1,838 Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Bought by Principal Street Partners LLC

Principal Street Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,838 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $945,453,000 after buying an additional 6,628,310 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $635,056,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,688,160,000 after buying an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,494,851,000 after buying an additional 2,060,650 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of ABT opened at $135.18 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $129.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.37.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.