Everhart Financial Group Inc. Purchases 610 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,020 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 610 shares during the quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $112.69. 3,688,372 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,979,149. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $106.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.