5,049 Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Purchased by Machina Capital S.A.S.

Key Points

• Machina Capital S.A.S. has acquired a new position by purchasing 5,049 shares of Abbott Laboratories, valued at approximately $670,000.
• Abbott Laboratories has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 1.87%.
• The stock has seen a recent rise, trading up 0.7% to $126.53, with a market capitalization of $220.15 billion and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from analysts.

Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position 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 institutional investor acquired 5,049 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $670,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cim LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 16,967 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,919,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Capital Square LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,327 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Opes Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,854 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on ABT. Mizuho increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Barclays raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of ABT traded up $0.44 on Monday, reaching $126.98. The stock had a trading volume of 1,685,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,932,369. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.10. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.92 and a 12-month high of $141.23.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.