Van Cleef Asset Management Inc Sells 110 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Van Cleef Asset Management Inc lowered its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 5,890 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the third quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 21,419 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,182,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 91,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $28,344,000 after buying an additional 11,508 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock remained flat at $106.89 during trading hours on Thursday. 3,111,313 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,687,034. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one 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. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.97.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their price objective 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. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.