Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. Takes $47,000 Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Runnymede Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 417 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $47,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Welch Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $133,691,000 after purchasing an additional 57,499 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,791,000 after purchasing an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $2,828,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.5 %

ABT opened at $126.18 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $218.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $128.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.90.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

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.