Clark Capital Management Group Inc. Buys 939 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Clark Capital Management Group Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,065 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 939 shares during the quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $133.50 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $123.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859 in the last three months. Corporate 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.