Nelson Capital Management LLC Sells 1,173 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Nelson Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 20.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,675 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,173 shares during the quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE ABT opened at $136.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $121.65 and a 200-day moving average of $117.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $136.59. The firm has a market cap of $235.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.73%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.