Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC Sells 665 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC lowered its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,690 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 665 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 1.8% of Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Private Harbour Investment Management & Counsel LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. United Bank grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,111,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.7% during the 3rd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 3,844 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 99,116 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $11,301,000 after buying an additional 32,021 shares during the period. Acorn Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $308,000. Finally, West Tower Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $262,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the firm’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 owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $125.46 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $129.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.12. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. 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. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.