Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Steph & Co.

Steph & Co. cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,372 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 264 shares during the period. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 333 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $3.31 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $105.90. The company had a trading volume of 11,989,756 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,677,675. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $183.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 67.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.14.

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.