Dakota Wealth Management Increases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Dakota Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,966 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the quarter. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Camden National Bank grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Camden National Bank now owns 7,707 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $844,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 28,562,141 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,311,209,000 after buying an additional 1,233,152 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,298 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,807,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 15,430 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,823,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New World Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $477,000. 73.46% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

In other news, EVP Mary K. Moreland sold 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.31, for a total transaction of $47,724.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Nancy Mckinstry sold 1,614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.42, for a total transaction of $187,901.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 81,896 shares of company stock valued at $9,299,454 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Credit Suisse Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 27th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $143.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 8th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “strong-buy” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $138.83.

Shares of ABT traded up $1.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $109.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,159,308 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,167,185. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $104.63 and a 52 week high of $142.60. The stock has a market cap of $192.39 billion, a PE ratio of 25.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $117.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.85, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 20th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $11.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 17.35% and a return on equity of 28.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.32 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.82 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 16th. Investors of record on Friday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 13th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 43.62%.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile (Get Rating)

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 Established Pharmaceutical Products segment 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.

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