Aviance Capital Partners LLC Acquires 151 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,770 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 151 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 25,085 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 12,287 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 19.4% during the 4th 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. Renaissance Investment Group LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $1,563,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,712 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $739,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.53 on Tuesday, hitting $106.17. The company had a trading volume of 6,555,967 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,552,894. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $112.00 and a 200-day moving average of $108.85.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.47% 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.