Ethos Financial Group LLC Buys 350 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 13.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,873 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $325,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Welch Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,744,000 after acquiring an additional 3,479 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,791,000 after acquiring an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake 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 worth $17,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,774 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% in the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $2,828,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $134.90 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $124.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.53. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $233.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,282 shares of company stock valued at $3,263,348 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.