Knuff & Co LLC Sells 510 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Knuff & Co LLC cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,287 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 510 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,050,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 216,787 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $24,521,000 after acquiring an additional 23,023 shares during the period. Natural Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $4,731,000. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 24,975 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after buying an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miller Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $791,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 3.5 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $132.57 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $126.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.13.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.