Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 68.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,866 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 4,001 shares during the quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.8 %

ABT stock traded up $1.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $133.21. 5,043,771 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,580,481. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $133.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.05 billion, a PE ratio of 17.41, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $119.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.53.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a boost from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Finally, Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $133.06.

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.