Midland Wealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Midland Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,634 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 159 shares during the quarter. Midland Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,881,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reissued 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.19.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $137.23 on Monday. 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 cap of $238.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.82. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

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.