Summit Financial LLC Acquires 8,986 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Summit Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,939 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,986 shares during the quarter. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were 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 owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 in the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $130.81 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.39. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.