Centaurus Financial Inc. Increases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,612 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 424 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Insight Inv LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Johnson Midwest Financial LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 28.7% in the third quarter. Johnson Midwest Financial LLC now owns 560 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 148.4% in the third quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 477 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Finally, Vienna Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 72.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $97.01 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $168.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $93.25 and a 1-year high of $124.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $106.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.86.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.69 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 26.09% and a net margin of 15.88%. The firm’s revenue was down 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.32 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $103,922.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,256,842.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $68,375.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,091,998.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $103,922.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,203 shares in the company, valued at $5,256,842.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,971 shares of company stock valued at $199,140. Corporate insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $124.67.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

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Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products.