Sharkey Howes & Javer Makes New $224,000 Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sharkey Howes & Javer bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,685 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Wormser Freres Gestion purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.11.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.3%

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $133.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $232.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $133.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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.