Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Middleton & Co. Inc. MA

Middleton & Co. Inc. MA cut its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,121 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 490 shares during the quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $137.99 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $123.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.77. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $138.37. The company has a market cap of $239.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.