Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC

Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 35,799 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the period. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $133.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $133.28. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $120.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.65. The company has a market capitalization of $231.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories 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.