Dover Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Dover Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,451 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 467 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 1.6% of Dover Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 184,961 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $19,990,000 after purchasing an additional 35,127 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 15,651 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 3,761 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 99.9% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,382 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth $281,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 27,866 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,177,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of ABT opened at $135.04 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $234.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $135.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. On average, analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ABT. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

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.