Empower Advisory Group LLC Purchases 9,365 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 917,214 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,365 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $103,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 808,863 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $91,400,000 after acquiring an additional 50,592 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $204,000. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,445,000 after buying an additional 401 shares in the last quarter. Embree Financial Group increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Embree Financial Group now owns 28,257 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,222,000 after buying an additional 3,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AA Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 45.6% during the 3rd quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,605 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $867,000 after buying an additional 2,380 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $130.63 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $132.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.81%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

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.