Little House Capital LLC Takes $1.96 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Little House Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 14,744 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $1,956,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $9,325,000 after buying an additional 15,692 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $5,850,000 after buying an additional 4,755 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $66,000. Finally, Nwam LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 23,920 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,706,000 after buying an additional 3,323 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $134.40 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $132.82 and its 200 day moving average is $127.56. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $233.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on ABT shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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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