Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Raises Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 287.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 970,705 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 720,451 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned 0.06% of Abbott Laboratories worth $109,797,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Welch Group LLC raised 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 valued at $7,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $133,691,000 after buying an additional 57,499 shares during the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,791,000 after buying an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $2,828,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABT. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

ABT stock opened at $129.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.31. The company has a market capitalization of $224.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.91, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Insiders own 0.46% 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.