Values Added Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 2,006 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Values Added Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,006 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 30,218,560 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $1,893,715,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,278,132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886,954 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 83.1% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,925,012 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $582,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 137,153,545 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $14,952,480,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584,552 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. TheStreet raised Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.00.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $113.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $197.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $115.13 and its 200-day moving average is $106.42. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 67.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.