Moors & Cabot Inc. Sells 479 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 59,650 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 479 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 in the last 90 days. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 3.5 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $132.57 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $126.23 and a 200 day moving average of $119.13. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The firm has a market cap of $229.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

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.