Kennedy Capital Management LLC Invests $2.51 Million in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Kennedy Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 22,047 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,506,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Essex Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 5,006 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 767 shares during the last quarter. Private Ocean LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Ocean LLC now owns 1,525 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $168,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 5,237 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Colonial River Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $368,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ABT. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.00.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.2 %

ABT stock traded up $0.17 on Wednesday, hitting $105.49. 1,733,977 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,959,838. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business’s fifty day moving average is $103.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

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.