Sfmg LLC Sells 266 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sfmg LLC lowered its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,663 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 266 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 132.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 333 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TheStreet raised Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.14.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.3 %

ABT traded up $0.32 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $109.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,283,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,461,397. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $114.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 67.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.