Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Samalin Investment Counsel LLC

Samalin Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,875 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $438,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ABT. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $126.18 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $128.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.94. The company has a market cap of $218.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49, a PEG 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 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 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.