Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by StoneX Group Inc.

StoneX Group Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 56.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,246 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,331 shares during the quarter. StoneX Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Four equities research 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.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % 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 worth $15,463,316. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $131.71 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.61. 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 stock has a market cap of $228.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.22, 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 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.