Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Holdings Trimmed by John G Ullman & Associates Inc.

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,027 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 590 shares during the period. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,396,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,746,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,807 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,963,974,000 after acquiring an additional 488,764 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,942,709,000 after buying an additional 280,441 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,518,539,000 after buying an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,277,123 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,275,555,000 after buying an additional 174,919 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $137.99 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $239.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $123.08 and a 200-day moving average of $117.83. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $138.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average 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 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 value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories 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.