Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Buys 868 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 868 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $11,164,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 107,473 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $11,830,000 after purchasing an additional 9,763 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 69.9% in the 4th quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 32,729 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,603,000 after purchasing an additional 13,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 39.9% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 1,142,794 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $125,787,000 after buying an additional 325,715 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,935 shares of company stock valued at $1,670,048. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $105.90. The stock had a trading volume of 3,610,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,320,693. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $183.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.99, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $112.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.51.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.