Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 30.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,916 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 79.4% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:ABT traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $107.70. The stock had a trading volume of 1,863,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,638,109. The stock has a market cap of $186.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average is $113.77 and its 200 day moving average is $107.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 68.54%.

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.