White Pine Capital LLC Sells 2,511 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

White Pine Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABTFree Report) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,511 shares during the period. White Pine Capital LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 236.0% during the 4th quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 336 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ABT. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

View Our Latest Research Report on ABT

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 available at the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $107.53. 3,575,566 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,219,304. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $113.64 and a 200 day moving average of $108.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74. 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 quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABTGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

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