Aljian Capital Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Aljian Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 3,115 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted 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 worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. Leerink Partners began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, 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. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of ABT stock opened at $134.40 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $132.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $127.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. Equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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