55,089 Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Purchased by Paradiem LLC

Paradiem LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 55,089 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $6,231,000. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 1.7% of Paradiem LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Insight Folios Inc raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 21,821 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,488,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $117.76 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $204.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $114.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.04. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11,029,400 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. UBS Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.93.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.