Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Lowers Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 990,460 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 35,455 shares during the quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $112,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,940,321 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,463,680,000 after acquiring an additional 330,844 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 144,900 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $16,390,000 after purchasing an additional 11,784 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $368,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 114,556 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $12,957,000 after buying an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mission Wealth Management LP raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP now owns 25,275 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,859,000 after buying an additional 289 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $140.13 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $123.59 and a 200-day moving average of $118.10. 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 stock has a market cap of $243.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.32, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ABT. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.