Lewis Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 2,969 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Lewis Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,969 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the third quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 21,419 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 91,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,897,000 after buying an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $28,344,000 after buying an additional 11,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 634.6% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 29,758 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,882,000 after buying an additional 25,707 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $110.11 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $114.98 and a 200-day moving average of $106.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.48%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $128.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.