Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,073 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,456 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 25,085 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 12,287 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 591 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 14,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,712 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,935 shares of company stock valued at $1,670,048. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.0 %

NYSE ABT traded down $0.02 on Friday, hitting $105.90. 3,610,492 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,320,693. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $112.52 and a 200 day moving average of $108.51. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $183.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

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.