Capital Performance Advisors LLP Purchases 269 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Capital Performance Advisors LLP lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 14.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,137 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 269 shares during the quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $242,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $77,000. Monument Capital Management boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,972 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 16,032 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,359,000. Finally, Lee Financial Co boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Lee Financial Co now owns 16,217 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $130.63 on Monday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $118.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.07. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $132.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.