Kowal Investment Group LLC Has $1.35 Million Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Kowal Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,843 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. Kowal Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,346,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 236.0% during the 4th quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 336 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, 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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the business’s 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 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 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.64.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $1.09 during trading on Monday, hitting $102.82. 2,347,308 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,680,689. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60. The business has a 50 day moving average of $104.79 and a 200-day moving average of $110.12. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.18%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.