CORDA Investment Management LLC. Increases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

CORDA Investment Management LLC. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,103 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 151 shares during the quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value 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. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $135.89 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $235.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.76, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $122.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.56. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $136.99.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

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.