WASHINGTON TRUST Co Sells 482 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 128,290 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 482 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $14,121,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. now owns 11,507 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,267,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 40,462 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,454,000 after buying an additional 1,931 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 26,522 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,919,000 after buying an additional 976 shares during the period. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $276,000. Finally, IFG Advisory LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. IFG Advisory LLC now owns 31,828 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,503,000 after buying an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $1.76 on Wednesday, hitting $113.26. The company had a trading volume of 3,210,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,678,984. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The stock has a market cap of $196.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $115.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.48%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Raymond James lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.00.

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.