Elyxium Wealth LLC Takes Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,625 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $348,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $19,075,481,000 after acquiring an additional 739,260 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $7,688,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229,026 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,097,005 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $6,118,903,000 after acquiring an additional 795,073 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $4,023,027,000 after acquiring an additional 765,636 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,985,233,000 after acquiring an additional 581,325 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $123.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $132.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.56. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.92 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 32.43%. The firm had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

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 value of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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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