Jacobi Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Jacobi Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,650 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 234 shares during the quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 218.2% in the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,848 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 8,125 shares during the period. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 12,304 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,403,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth $79,000. Balanced Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.8% in the third quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.9% in the third quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 32,370 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,691,000 after acquiring an additional 3,952 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $137.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $239.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $138.37. The business’s 50-day moving average is $123.08 and its 200 day moving average is $117.77.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

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.