Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 8,865 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 863,189 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 8,865 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $97,635,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,963,974,000 after acquiring an additional 488,764 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,942,709,000 after acquiring an additional 280,441 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,940,321 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,463,680,000 after purchasing an additional 330,844 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $129.71 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $126.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company has a market cap of $224.97 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS 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 1.82%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was 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 approximately $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Bank of America lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

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.