Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Pathstone Holdings LLC

Pathstone Holdings LLC reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 259,511 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,863 shares during the quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $29,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,873 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $551,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 145.6% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 17,936 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,029,000 after acquiring an additional 10,632 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 47,473 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,370,000 after acquiring an additional 4,711 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,600 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,443,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Finally, Cooper Financial Group boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.7% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,680 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $529,000 after purchasing an additional 528 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $129.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The company’s fifty day moving average is $129.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ABT. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. 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. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.