Bleakley Financial Group LLC Acquires 10,983 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,005 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,983 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Insight Folios Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Sfmg LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the third quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. River Street Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% during the third 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $132.07 on Thursday. 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 has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $132.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $116.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $114.71.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Mizuho increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

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.