Scholtz & Company LLC Has $5.37 Million Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Scholtz & Company LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 47,461 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 5,902 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises 2.6% of Scholtz & Company LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Scholtz & Company LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.94.

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Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 5.4 %

ABT traded down $7.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $124.46. 10,775,333 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,905,172. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $131.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $120.84. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $215.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.