Harfst & Associates Inc. Sells 213 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Harfst & Associates Inc. lessened its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 18,899 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 213 shares during the period. Harfst & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,138,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $135.94 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $122.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.43. 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 stock has a market cap of $235.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $136.59.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI increased 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. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.