Hartford Investment Management Co. Sells 2,337 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Hartford Investment Management Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 107,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,337 shares during the period. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $12,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 16,975 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,935,000 after buying an additional 1,985 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 83.5% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 7,304 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $833,000 after acquiring an additional 3,324 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $359,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 808,863 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $91,400,000 after purchasing an additional 50,592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $204,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $131.48 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $228.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $132.50.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

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.