D Orazio & Associates Inc. Grows Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,982 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 683 shares during the period. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 42,762 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,875,000 after buying an additional 991 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 5,671 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $647,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,639 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,546,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patten Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 7,741 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $883,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $129.11 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $132.50. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $117.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.93.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com raised Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.