McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC Sells 896 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 26,171 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 896 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up 1.3% of McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. McElhenny Sheffield Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% during the third quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 21,523 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after acquiring an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Country Club Bank GFN raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% during the third quarter. Country Club Bank GFN now owns 18,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% during the third quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 18,541 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.2% during the third quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 42,554 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prelude Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $2,866,000. 72.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $103,922.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,203 shares in the company, valued at $5,256,842.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $68,375.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 70,427 shares in the company, valued at $7,091,998.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $103,922.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,256,842.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,971 shares of company stock worth $199,140 over the last 90 days. 0.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $2.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $97.01. 10,848,298 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,170,376. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $106.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.86. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $93.25 and a 52-week high of $124.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.63. The stock has a market cap of $168.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 15.88% and a return on equity of 26.09%. The firm had revenue of $10.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.69 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.32 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.67.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

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Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products.