Bender Robert & Associates Has $542,000 Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bender Robert & Associates lessened its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 27.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,085 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,553 shares during the period. Bender Robert & Associates’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $542,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,325,000 after buying an additional 15,692 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,850,000 after buying an additional 4,755 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,120,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 28,683 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,244,000 after acquiring an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.4%

ABT stock opened at $132.18 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $131.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABT. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.61.

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.