WD Rutherford LLC Increases Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

WD Rutherford LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,548 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the quarter. WD Rutherford LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,222,332,000 after purchasing an additional 701,740 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,182,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,764,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $28,344,000 after acquiring an additional 11,508 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.64.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

ABT stock traded down $0.74 on Friday, reaching $103.91. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,283,577 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,748,477. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.08. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $180.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced 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 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 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.