Keel Point LLC Buys 692 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Keel Point LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,791 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 692 shares during the quarter. Keel Point LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 333 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABT. TheStreet raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $109.29 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $189.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $114.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.51.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

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.