Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Invests $223,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,029 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 3,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $356,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $250,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the first quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,029 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Landaas & Co. WI ADV raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Landaas & Co. WI ADV now owns 5,534 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 14,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.5 %

Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.52 during trading on Thursday, reaching $114.00. The stock had a trading volume of 2,632,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,700,553. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $115.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $197.81 billion, a PE ratio of 34.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ABT. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.00.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.