Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 40.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,386 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 16,876 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Barclays raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.31.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $105.75 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.50 billion, a PE ratio of 32.79, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. 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 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by 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.