Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,255 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 466 shares during the quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $481,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $140,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Capital Square LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 954 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $244,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the firm’s 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 $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $131.00 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $130.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. Equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

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.