Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Northcape Wealth Management LLC

Northcape Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 43,255 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 315 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 1.7% of Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,761,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 236.0% during the 4th quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 336 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the period. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, 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 value of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, 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 value of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 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 $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $1.33 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $105.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,073,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,625,535. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $113.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.34. The company has a market capitalization of $183.82 billion, a PE ratio of 33.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.74. 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 fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup boosted 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. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

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.