Ipsen Advisor Group LLC Buys Shares of 4,418 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Ipsen Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 4,418 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $500,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $125.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $217.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $129.04 and a 200 day moving average of $120.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average 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.