Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 19,799 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Baird Financial Group Inc. cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,924,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 19,799 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $217,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Three Seasons Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $1,428,000. Welch Group LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,744,000 after buying an additional 3,479 shares during the period. Voleon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $133,691,000 after acquiring an additional 57,499 shares during the period. Finally, Bath Savings Trust Co grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,791,000 after acquiring an additional 5,881 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $132.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $230.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.38, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $122.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

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.