Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Sells 20,303 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 311,886 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 20,303 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $35,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Welch Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,744,000 after acquiring an additional 3,479 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,791,000 after purchasing an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,606,000 after buying an additional 5,664 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $2,828,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $22,091,000 after acquiring an additional 31,720 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $129.11 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $132.50. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $117.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.93. The company has a market capitalization of $223.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share 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 business posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com raised Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

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.