PUREfi Wealth LLC Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

PUREfi Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,778 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $993,000. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 1.0% of PUREfi Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.7% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 808,863 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $91,400,000 after purchasing an additional 50,592 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 33.7% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,185 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,845,000 after purchasing an additional 4,080 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 45,022 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 208,881 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $23,815,000 after purchasing an additional 2,958 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $130.63 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $118.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $115.82. 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 company has a market capitalization of $226.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $132.65.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.