ICW Investment Advisors LLC Has $3.20 Million Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

ICW Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,283 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 213 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises approximately 1.3% of ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. ICW Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $126.18 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.94. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $218.83 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. Four investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently 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.