Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Western Wealth Management LLC

Western Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,635 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 592 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,320,866,000 after buying an additional 30,218,560 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $1,893,715,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,278,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886,954 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 83.1% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,925,012 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $582,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235,314 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 99.8% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,140,866 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $371,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TheStreet raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.31.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $2.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $107.46. 1,497,333 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,638,888. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $186.46 billion, a PE ratio of 32.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.