Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Holdings Boosted by RWA Wealth Partners LLC

RWA Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 254,544 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,705 shares during the quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $28,792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Welch Group LLC grew 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 worth $7,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in 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 worth $133,691,000 after buying an additional 57,499 shares in the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,791,000 after acquiring an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $2,828,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $130.81 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.37. The company has a market capitalization of $226.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, 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 completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.