Centricity Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 489 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $55,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. McAdam LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.2% in the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 4,425 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $191,515,000 after buying an additional 1,667,170 shares during the period. Peoples Bank OH lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Peoples Bank OH now owns 4,013 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $458,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 26,945 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,072,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth $814,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $135.04 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $120.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $135.41. The firm has a market cap of $234.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

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.