Puff Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Puff Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 5,210 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $589,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Insight Folios Inc boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. River Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $834,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, John G Ullman & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 30,617 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,491,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded up $2.00 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $132.18. 3,801,780 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,628,037. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $132.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $119.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm's revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $133.06.

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.