Vident Advisory LLC Purchases 8,098 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Vident Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 30.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,899 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,098 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,873 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. Capital & Planning LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $981,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 4,674 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,325,000 after purchasing an additional 15,692 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $135.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $129.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.37. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $235.19 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

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.