Hanson & Doremus Investment Management Raises Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 97.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,398 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,522 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $200,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $9,325,000 after purchasing an additional 15,692 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,120,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 28,683 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,244,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $135.41 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $235.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

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.