K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Purchases New Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc purchased 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. The institutional investor purchased 7,275 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $801,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 21,419 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,074,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 91,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $28,344,000 after purchasing an additional 11,508 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $107.53. 3,575,566 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,219,304. The company has a market cap of $186.58 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $113.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

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.