Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,344 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,384 shares during the quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $635,056,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased 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 acquiring an additional 2,711,586 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 47.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 3,749,502 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $427,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22,372.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,201,364 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $135,886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,196,018 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $127.64 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $221.37 billion, a PE ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $127.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $119.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the business’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 transaction of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. Bank of America increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.