Aurora Private Wealth Inc. Acquires New Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Aurora Private Wealth Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 79,238 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $10,511,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were 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 approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 2.7%

NYSE ABT traded down $3.67 during trading on Thursday, hitting $133.73. The company had a trading volume of 9,442,414 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,136,879. The company's fifty day moving average is $132.69 and its 200-day moving average is $127.30. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $232.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.61.

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.