New World Advisors LLC Acquires 727 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

New World Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 16.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,263 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 727 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises 0.2% of New World Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. New World Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $137.46 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.30.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.61%.

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.