Pacific Wealth Management Acquires 138 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Pacific Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,110 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 138 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises 1.7% of Pacific Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Pacific Wealth Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,984,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,278,132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886,954 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,022,564,000 after buying an additional 1,298,219 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,320,866,000 after buying an additional 30,218,560 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,016,235 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,229,122,000 after buying an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $1,893,715,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABT. TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Evercore ISI raised 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. Raymond James boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.31.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’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 directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $105.19. The stock had a trading volume of 2,200,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,630,331. The company has a fifty day moving average of $114.42 and a 200 day moving average of $107.59. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $182.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.48%.

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.