Attessa Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 2,610 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Attessa Capital LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,610 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $295,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 3rd 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 raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 808,863 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $91,400,000 after buying an additional 50,592 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 13,282 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,514,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 52,860 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $6,027,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,308 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $605,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $131.83 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $228.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $132.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $118.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.71.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.