Castellan Group Takes $726,000 Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Key Points

• Castellan Group acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories, purchasing 5,474 shares valued at approximately $726,000 in the first quarter.
• Abbott Laboratories reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $1.26, matching the consensus estimate, and saw a 7.4% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.9% for investors.

Castellan Group bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,474 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $726,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $17,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $110,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 49.7% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $772,000 after purchasing an additional 2,267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,004 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $3,707,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 price target (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.9%

ABT opened at $126.16 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $131.86 and a 200-day moving average of $130.26. The company has a market capitalization of $219.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $103.55 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.57%.

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.

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