Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Investment Partners LTD.

Investment Partners LTD. trimmed its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,900 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 534 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14,037.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,349,176 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $148,504,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339,633 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,298,219 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 30.8% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,627,373 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $351,311,000 after buying an additional 853,997 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 28.0% in the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,664,856 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $354,941,000 after buying an additional 801,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 47.7% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,423,715 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $234,737,000 after buying an additional 783,090 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Barclays dropped their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $107.53. The stock had a trading volume of 3,575,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,219,304. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $186.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.03.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.