Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Raises Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 14.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,072 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 25,085 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,761,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 12,287 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Avion Wealth raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 591 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $65,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Wynn Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $390,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Berger Financial Group Inc increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 3,423 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.64.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

NYSE ABT opened at $103.94 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.08. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $180.82 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.