Keel Point LLC Increases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Keel Point LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 11.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,791 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 692 shares during the period. Keel Point LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $131,000. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 27,280 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,826 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 813,253 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $96,257,000 after acquiring an additional 15,521 shares in the last quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the first quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 19,467 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 636.2% during the first quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $262,000 after acquiring an additional 1,915 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $109.29 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.64 billion, a PE ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $114.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.51.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.48%.

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.