Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Everpar Advisors LLC

Everpar Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 34.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,986 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,029 shares during the period. Everpar Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $529,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $200,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,325,000 after acquiring an additional 15,692 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $29,120,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 75.1% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 470,094 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $53,327,000 after buying an additional 201,556 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $135.41 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $235.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by 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.