Wayfinding Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 6,613 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 6,613 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $748,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. United Bank boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth about $211,000. Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 4,975 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 187.5% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 91,865 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $10,474,000 after purchasing an additional 59,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $271,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $126.72 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $128.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.77. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.56, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.