Brookstone Capital Management Has $4.13 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) by 15.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,766 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,863 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $131,000. United Bank raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 27,280 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,229,000 after buying an additional 1,826 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 813,253 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $96,257,000 after buying an additional 15,521 shares during the last quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 19,467 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 636.2% in the 1st quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 1,915 shares during the last quarter. 72.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $68,375.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 70,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,091,998.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $103,922.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,256,842.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $68,375.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,091,998.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,971 shares of company stock valued at $199,140 in the last quarter. 0.52% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of ABT opened at $97.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $168.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.38 and a beta of 0.68. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $93.25 and a 1 year high of $124.36. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $106.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $10.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.69 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 26.09% and a net margin of 15.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.32 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 13th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 52.17%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.67.

About Abbott Laboratories

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Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products.