328 Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Bought by Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc.

Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 328 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $37,000. JDM Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.3% in the third quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 363 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 132.0% in the third quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 450 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABT. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.1 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $131.48 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $132.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $117.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.42.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business 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 revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is 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.