Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Poplar Forest Capital LLC

Poplar Forest Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,642 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,502,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 37,904 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,172,000 after acquiring an additional 1,904 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 71,314 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,849,000 after buying an additional 3,670 shares during the period. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $314,000. Wynn Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $366,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $51,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE ABT traded down $0.70 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $106.89. 5,050,066 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,719,627. The company has a market capitalization of $185.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.97. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.