Commonwealth Financial Services LLC Acquires 429 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Commonwealth Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,840 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 429 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $434,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 363 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $128.63 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $129.85. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $116.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.81, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.