Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Cuts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,830 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 51.3% during the third quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 363 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $129.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $116.58 and a 200 day moving average of $114.52. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $224.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.89, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $129.85.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.