Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC

Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 117.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 61,457 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,205 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 236.0% during the 4th quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 336 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.64.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $0.74 during trading on Friday, reaching $103.91. 8,283,577 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,748,477. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $180.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $104.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.10.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.