Howland Capital Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Howland Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 30,511 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 931 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 363 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 132.0% during the 3rd quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 450 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

ABT stock opened at $129.11 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $132.50. The company has a market cap of $223.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $117.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.10. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. 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%.

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.