Cordatus Wealth Management LLC Makes New $2.67 Million Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Cordatus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 23,574 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,666,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 90.4% in the 4th quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 13,591 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,537,000 after acquiring an additional 6,452 shares during the last quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 5,455 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $617,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 71,167 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,050,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 4,984 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $133.21 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $133.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.65.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.