Royal Fund Management LLC Purchases Shares of 1,779 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Royal Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,779 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $202,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Compton Wealth Advisory Group LLC now owns 12,001 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,364,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. &PARTNERS raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 62.1% in the first quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 22,840 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,606,000 after acquiring an additional 8,751 shares during the period. Central Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co. now owns 12,099 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,375,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 7,675 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $872,000 after acquiring an additional 550 shares during the period. Finally, MJP Associates Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.64.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.33 on Monday, hitting $105.39. 302,085 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,668,058. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $105.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.15.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Activity

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

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.