Linscomb Wealth Inc. Reduces Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Linscomb Wealth Inc. trimmed its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 767 shares during the quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $11,389,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $135.89 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $136.99. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $122.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during 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 business’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.