Moser Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Moser Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,920 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 575 shares during the quarter. Moser Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $982,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. WealthShield Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 3,117 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.0% during the third quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,315 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 763 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 182,784 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,703,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 89.4% in the third quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 116,240 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $11,258,000 after acquiring an additional 54,875 shares during the period. Finally, River Street Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 5,635 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $546,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’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 $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,787 shares of company stock worth $4,098,073. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $104.67. 598,386 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,501,999. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $112.00 and its 200-day moving average is $108.85. The stock has a market cap of $182.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share 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 20.18%. The business 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 business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup lifted their target price 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

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.