Kovack Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,193 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $107.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.