Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Addison Advisors LLC

Addison Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,359 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $0.46 on Friday, hitting $113.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 507,781 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,836,358. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $197.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $107.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.80.

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.