Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,333,306 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 17,000 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $263,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $130.12 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $132.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $119.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.42.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.