Fox Hill Wealth Management Cuts Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Fox Hill Wealth Management decreased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 68.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,259 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 9,358 shares during the quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $482,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. United Bank increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. Baron Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $234,000. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 262,374 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $29,913,000 after acquiring an additional 9,401 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.1% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 48,075 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,481,000 after buying an additional 3,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 11.8% in the third quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 4,557 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of ABT opened at $126.18 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $127.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.67. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $218.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

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.