Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,151 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 298 shares during the quarter. Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $922,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Welch Group LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $133,691,000 after purchasing an additional 57,499 shares in the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,791,000 after purchasing an additional 5,881 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $2,828,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $127.02 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $220.29 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $127.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

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.