West Family Investments Inc. Purchases 342 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

West Family Investments Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,114 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Destination Wealth Management lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 242,463 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,425,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642 shares in the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 18,527 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,096,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.4% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 45,803 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,181,000 after purchasing an additional 4,305 shares in the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1,166.0% in the 4th quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 66,074 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,474,000 after purchasing an additional 60,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chatham Capital Group Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 9,518 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $134.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $233.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $124.90 and its 200 day moving average is $118.53. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,282 shares of company stock worth $3,263,348 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.19.

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.