Keeler Thomas Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Keeler Thomas Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,790 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 794 shares during the quarter. Keeler Thomas Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 46,373 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,245,000 after purchasing an additional 12,019 shares during the period. Addison Advisors LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 4,470 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $506,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $2,314,000. Edge Capital Group LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 9,880 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,117,000 after acquiring an additional 2,283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GHE LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 15,190 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 718 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE ABT opened at $134.81 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $136.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $121.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $117.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.82 billion, a PE ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

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.