Forum Financial Management LP Increases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,573 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 942 shares during the quarter. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,625,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Generation Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $232,000. GeoWealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. GeoWealth Management LLC now owns 16,568 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,874,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Capital International Ltd. CA boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 142,259 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $16,091,000 after buying an additional 4,212 shares in the last quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. now owns 29,386 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,324,000 after purchasing an additional 666 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,688,160,000 after buying an additional 2,229,026 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.0 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $131.00 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $130.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of $227.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. On average, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.