Axxcess Wealth Management LLC Buys 9,763 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 10.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 107,473 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,763 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $11,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 21,419 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 91,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 634.6% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 29,758 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,882,000 after buying an additional 25,707 shares during the period. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $105.90. 3,610,492 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,320,693. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $112.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 13,935 shares of company stock valued at $1,670,048. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.