Steele Capital Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Steele Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,619 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $1,059,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,022,564,000 after buying an additional 1,298,219 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,016,235 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,229,122,000 after purchasing an additional 343,559 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,153,877 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,164,611,000 after purchasing an additional 32,157 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 9,149,611 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,007,098,000 after buying an additional 135,821 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,949,700 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $576,228,000 after buying an additional 20,851 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ABT stock traded down $0.24 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $107.29. 3,306,015 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,632,260. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.22. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. 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 company has a market cap of $186.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048 over the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

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.