WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. Invests $213,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 1,886 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 268,538 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $30,616,000 after buying an additional 40,783 shares in the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.7% in the third quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. Trilogy Capital Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the third quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 2,503 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $142,000. Finally, Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $130.12 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $119.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.42. The company has a market cap of $225.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $132.65.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reissued 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. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

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.