Northstar Group Inc. Purchases 121 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Northstar Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,775 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Northstar Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of 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 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 51.3% in the third quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 363 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following 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 trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $129.11 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. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $132.50. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $117.25 and a 200 day moving average of $114.93. The stock has a market cap of $223.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost 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 1.83%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.