Finward Bancorp Invests $622,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Finward Bancorp bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,501 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $622,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ABT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $1.30 on Friday, reaching $131.00. 10,459,999 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,044,769. The company has a market capitalization of $227.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $130.62 and a 200-day moving average of $121.84.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

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.