Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,060 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. United Bank grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 52,371 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,971,000 after purchasing an additional 3,265 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 8.3% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 13,788 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $464,000. Finally, Tower Bridge Advisors lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the third quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 45,017 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,132,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE ABT opened at $127.02 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $220.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $119.47. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted 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 net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories 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.