Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Sells 450 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. reduced its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,600 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 450 shares during the period. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the third quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 21,419 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,074,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,182,000 after buying an additional 2,317 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 91,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,897,000 after buying an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $28,344,000 after acquiring an additional 11,508 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ABT. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $107.61. 1,524,093 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,634,632. The company’s fifty day moving average is $113.77 and its 200-day moving average is $107.96. 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 firm has a market cap of $186.72 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

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.