Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,053 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Welch Group LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,744,000 after buying an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $133,691,000 after buying an additional 57,499 shares in the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,791,000 after buying an additional 5,881 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $2,828,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $127.02 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $127.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.47. The company has a market cap of $220.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.