S. R. Schill & Associates Has $265,000 Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

S. R. Schill & Associates lessened its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 55.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,408 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,001 shares during the period. S. R. Schill & Associates’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $1.78 on Friday, reaching $109.11. The stock had a trading volume of 4,041,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,799,869. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $189.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $114.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.36.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.14.

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.