Park Edge Advisors LLC Sells 150 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Park Edge Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,685 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Park Edge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,222,332,000 after purchasing an additional 701,740 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,764,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $28,344,000 after purchasing an additional 11,508 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.18.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded down $0.87 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $102.33. The stock had a trading volume of 2,017,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,739,068. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.02 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $110.00. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

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.