Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by AtonRa Partners

AtonRa Partners decreased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,345 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 188 shares during the period. AtonRa Partners’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 21,756 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,107,000 after acquiring an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $483,000. RMR Wealth Builders grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 41.6% in the third quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 14,035 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after buying an additional 4,121 shares in the last quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC now owns 21,830 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,114,000 after acquiring an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toews Corp ADV purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $775,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,935 shares of company stock valued at $1,670,048 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE ABT traded down $0.77 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $106.50. 1,006,493 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,574,681. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $113.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.34. The stock has a market cap of $184.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.