Simplicity Wealth LLC Lowers Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Simplicity Wealth LLC lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 34.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,252 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 4,380 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 2,640 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.19.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of ABT opened at $137.23 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $238.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $125.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.82. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.