Regal Investment Advisors LLC Sells 1,141 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Regal Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,720 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,141 shares during the quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $986,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE ABT opened at $126.08 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. 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 capitalization of $218.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.54.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for 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 revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast 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 paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

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.