Cordatus Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 23,574 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Cordatus Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 23,574 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,666,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Welch Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,791,000 after acquiring an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,774 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% during the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $2,828,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $133.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $231.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $133.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $120.32 and a 200-day moving average of $116.65.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. 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 payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction 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 $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABT. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

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.