Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Raises Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 14.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,072 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in 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 worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Barclays cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.64.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $103.94 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $180.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.08. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

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.