Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Paladin Advisory Group LLC

Paladin Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,920 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 127 shares during the quarter. Paladin Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 30,218,560 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $1,893,715,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,278,132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886,954 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 83.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,925,012 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $582,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,235,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 99.8% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,140,866 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $371,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $2.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $107.29. 10,525,210 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,763,002. The company has a market cap of $186.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $114.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released 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. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. 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 previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid 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 payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were 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 owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 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 value of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.31.

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.