Marcum Wealth LLC Raises Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,445 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 309 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $619,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,115,836,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $9,530,825,000 after purchasing an additional 7,527,778 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 12,577.8% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,772,670 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $415,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,742,912 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,009,838 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $551,434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,477,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 64,294,784 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,077,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457,847 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABT. Barclays reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.64.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.8 %

ABT opened at $105.70 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $105.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a market cap of $183.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.