State of Alaska Department of Revenue Sells 19,430 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 197,744 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 19,430 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $22,366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Welch Group LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in 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 lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during 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 buying an additional 5,881 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after buying an additional 5,664 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $2,828,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 31,720 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of ABT opened at $132.07 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $229.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $132.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.