Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Veracity Capital LLC

by · The Cerbat Gem

Veracity Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Free Report) by 10.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,801 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $546,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.18.

Read Our Latest Report on Abbott Laboratories

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded down $0.87 on Thursday, hitting $102.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,017,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,739,068. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $104.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.00. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The stock has a market cap of $178.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.18%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

About Abbott Laboratories

(Free Report)

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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