Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Cuts Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 23.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 709 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 215 shares during the quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $80,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,985,233,000 after buying an additional 581,325 shares in the last quarter. Partners in Financial Planning purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $259,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 23.7% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 198,839 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,491,000 after purchasing an additional 38,112 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. United Bank now owns 28,813 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $74,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 over the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ABT. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $132.76 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $230.25 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $130.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.51. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

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.