Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Guardian Investment Management

Guardian Investment Management lessened its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,750 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 1.1% of Guardian Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Guardian Investment Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Twin Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 42,716 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,702,000 after purchasing an additional 2,889 shares during the period. Pacific Wealth Management lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacific Wealth Management now owns 27,110 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,984,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 9,149,611 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,007,098,000 after buying an additional 135,821 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 27,702 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,049,000 after buying an additional 1,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 162,019 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,834,000 after buying an additional 10,093 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $1.22 on Thursday, reaching $104.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,504,952 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,658,907. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $181.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $114.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.59.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 67.48%.

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.