Westover Capital Advisors LLC Raises Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Westover Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,616 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the period. Westover Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $288,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,322 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 291,047 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $32,036,000 after buying an additional 7,837 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 965,930 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $106,320,000 after acquiring an additional 263,186 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 50,889 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 880,721 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $96,941,000 after acquiring an additional 15,609 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $105.88. 3,610,292 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,562,046. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $112.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.41. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.98, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.76.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,935 shares of company stock valued at $1,670,048. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.50.

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.