4WEALTH Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 5,103 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

4WEALTH Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,103 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $577,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded up $2.04 on Friday, hitting $132.92. The company had a trading volume of 9,801,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,127,185. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $230.53 billion, a PE ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The company's fifty day moving average price is $130.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.99.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.78%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business's 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 transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.