ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $5.20 Million Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,231 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 147 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,300 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 882 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $69,000. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $219,000. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 30,974 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,409,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,627 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.31.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of ABT stock traded up $2.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $107.29. 10,525,210 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,763,002. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.65. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $186.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value 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 $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories 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.