Motiv8 Investments LLC Increases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Motiv8 Investments LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 22.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,477 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,953 shares during the quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE ABT opened at $135.94 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $122.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $117.43. The company has a market capitalization of $235.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $136.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on ABT shares. 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.