TRUE Private Wealth Advisors Decreases Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

TRUE Private Wealth Advisors cut its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,335 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 153 shares during the period. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Bank increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $380,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 12,522 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $465,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up 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, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $123.63 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $130.93 and a 200 day moving average of $121.04. 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 company has a market capitalization of $214.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued 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 yield of 1.91%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.