Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Strengthening Families & Communities LLC

Strengthening Families & Communities LLC reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 96.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 277 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 7,805 shares during the period. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $31,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $131.48 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $117.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.42. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $132.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $228.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.