Fairway Wealth LLC Invests $45,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 400 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $45,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Welch Group LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,744,000 after buying an additional 3,479 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $133,691,000 after buying an additional 57,499 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,791,000 after buying an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% during the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after buying an additional 5,664 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.2 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $137.43 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $125.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.99. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $238.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.