KLCM Advisors Inc. Has $1.17 Million Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

KLCM Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,378 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. KLCM Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,174,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,056,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP now owns 2,137 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $77,000. Monument Capital Management lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,972 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valmark Advisers Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 16,032 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $130.63 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $118.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.07. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $132.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.08, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.