Meridian Wealth Management LLC Has $1.84 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,517 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $140.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $243.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $123.59 and its 200-day moving average is $118.10.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.