Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 144,900 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,784 shares during the quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $16,390,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Unified Investment Management purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $368,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 114,556 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $12,957,000 after buying an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 25,275 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,859,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 7,502 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $849,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 133,355 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $15,084,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’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 transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 25,282 shares of company stock worth $3,263,348 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $137.65 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business’s 50-day moving average is $124.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $118.28.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.19.

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.