Allstate Corp Reduces Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Allstate Corp reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,897 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 731 shares during the period. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $649,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,182,000 after buying an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 634.6% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 29,758 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,882,000 after buying an additional 25,707 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $28,344,000 after purchasing an additional 11,508 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,111,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.60.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,884 shares of company stock worth $5,153,916 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $104.62. 2,425,247 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,616,014. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $108.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.50. The company has a market cap of $182.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.76.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.18%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.