Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Sells 87 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,830 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 354,435 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $40,409,000 after buying an additional 22,932 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% in the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,904 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.5% during the third quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 1,478 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $169,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 160,251 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,270,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944 shares during the period. Finally, Werlinich Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 13,695 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,561,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $129.18 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $129.85. The company’s 50-day moving average is $116.58 and its 200 day moving average is $114.52.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

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.