Welch & Forbes LLC Has $70.30 Million Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 638,659 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,769 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $70,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 223.3% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 2,780 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 1,920 shares during the period. WealthShield Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 3,117 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 21,851 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,116,000 after purchasing an additional 2,606 shares during the last quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Crescent Grove Advisors LLC now owns 4,905 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,672 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. 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 Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of ABT traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $105.63. 3,789,472 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,541,432. The stock has a market cap of $183.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $112.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’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 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 13,935 shares of company stock valued at $1,670,048 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.