Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 525 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,376 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 525 shares during the quarter. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,111,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 47.7% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 99,116 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $11,301,000 after purchasing an additional 32,021 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 443,049 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $50,512,000 after purchasing an additional 57,049 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 21,756 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,480,000 after purchasing an additional 5,121 shares during the period. Finally, BBR Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 20.3% in the 3rd quarter. BBR Partners LLC now owns 60,043 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $6,846,000 after buying an additional 10,114 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $131.67 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $129.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.24. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 over the last 90 days. 0.46% 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.