Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Sells 4,765 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lowered its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 183,932 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 4,765 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $20,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $34,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 4.0 %

NYSE ABT opened at $131.67 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $129.71 and its 200 day moving average is $120.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.35 billion, a PE ratio of 17.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value 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 three months, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.