Cullinan Associates Inc. Decreases Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Cullinan Associates Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 35.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,494 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 27,586 shares during the quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $102.87. The stock had a trading volume of 893,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,660,485. The business’s 50 day moving average is $104.79 and its 200-day moving average is $110.12. The company has a market cap of $178.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.