KLCM Advisors Inc. Trims Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

KLCM Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,995 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 476 shares during the quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,100,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 132.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 333 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet raised Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Raymond James increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.14.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of ABT traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $109.21. 7,283,867 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,461,397. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.57 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.60. The firm has a market cap of $189.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.48%.

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.