Merit Financial Group LLC Lowers Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Merit Financial Group LLC decreased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,339 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,553 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 236.0% during the fourth quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 336 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 79.4% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays cut their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $105.90. The stock had a trading volume of 3,610,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,320,693. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week 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. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $112.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.41. The company has a market cap of $183.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.98, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.