Echo45 Advisors LLC Acquires New Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Echo45 Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,986 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 12,287 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 591 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 3,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $356,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $250,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 14,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,563,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $0.63 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $105.27. 7,294,151 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,699,425. The company has a market cap of $182.66 billion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $114.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 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 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 67.48%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. 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. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.31.

Abbott Laboratories 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.