Gamco Investors INC. ET AL Sells 916 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,023 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 916 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.70.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT traded down $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $105.24. The stock had a trading volume of 8,611,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,587,887. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.08 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company’s 50-day moving average is $103.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.28.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.65%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.