Venturi Wealth Management LLC Has $4.11 Million Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 36,292 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,888 shares during the quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,105,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Insight Folios Inc raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the third quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $834,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 30,617 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,491,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $130.63 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $226.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.08, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. 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 has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $132.65. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company 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 for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% 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.