Vance Wealth Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Vance Wealth Inc. lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,740 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 569 shares during the period. Vance Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,022,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,219 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,016,235 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,229,122,000 after purchasing an additional 343,559 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,153,877 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,164,611,000 after acquiring an additional 32,157 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 9,149,611 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,007,098,000 after acquiring an additional 135,821 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,949,700 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $576,228,000 after acquiring an additional 20,851 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $0.67 on Friday, hitting $107.53. The company had a trading volume of 3,575,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,219,304. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The business has a 50 day moving average of $113.64 and a 200 day moving average of $108.11. The company has a market cap of $186.58 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’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 completion of 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 link. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.