Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 27.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,543 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 2,058 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $380,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% in the third quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 38,793 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $4,423,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 42.3% in the third quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 327,288 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $37,314,000 after buying an additional 97,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortem Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 7,994 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $911,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 2.6 %

ABT stock opened at $127.13 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $220.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.17. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23.

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Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of 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, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ABT. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $137.94.

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.

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