Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Trims Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 13.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,707 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 4,684 shares during the period. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,376,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Avity Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc. now owns 106,826 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $12,142,000 after acquiring an additional 2,685 shares in the last quarter. WD Rutherford LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in the first quarter. WD Rutherford LLC now owns 11,548 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 59.4% during the 1st quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 17,166 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,951,000 after buying an additional 6,399 shares during the period. Norris Perne & French LLP MI lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 144,344 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $16,406,000 after buying an additional 1,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.64.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

ABT stock traded down $0.74 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $103.91. 8,283,577 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,748,477. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.76 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.08.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results 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 20.18%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.