Congress Asset Management Co. Cuts Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Congress Asset Management Co. cut its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 13.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,319 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 499 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $375,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.4 %

ABT stock opened at $130.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $225.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $132.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $119.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.29.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.