Financial Perspectives Inc Sells 361 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Financial Perspectives Inc trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,468 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 361 shares during the quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $932,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $40,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 79.4% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Raymond James lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $107.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,849,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,728,185. The business’s 50 day moving average is $114.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.90. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $186.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.