Sovran Advisors LLC Takes $757,000 Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,696 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $757,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ABT. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $131.48 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $132.50. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $228.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $117.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.42.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during 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%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.