Boston Financial Mangement LLC Decreases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Boston Financial Mangement LLC lowered its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,177 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 5,446 shares during the quarter. Boston Financial Mangement LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE ABT opened at $132.18 on Thursday. 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 cap of $229.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.53. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $132.65.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.