Weatherly Asset Management L. P. Sells 746 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Weatherly Asset Management L. P. trimmed its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,561 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 746 shares during the quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,034,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $1,916,000. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 20,045 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895 shares during the period. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 43,215 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after acquiring an additional 2,596 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 16,364 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,801,000 after acquiring an additional 3,497 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 186,718 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $20,552,000 after acquiring an additional 15,598 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’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 value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’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 value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded up $0.50 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $107.57. 3,849,265 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,728,185. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $186.65 billion, a PE ratio of 33.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $114.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.90.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. Research analysts expect 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 paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.