Atomi Financial Group Inc. Purchases 2,513 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 24.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,767 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 2,513 shares during the period. Atomi Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.40 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $113.10. The company had a trading volume of 2,705,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,944,178. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.68. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

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.