Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Lowers Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. decreased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,714 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 105 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $733,000. Certuity LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 6,221 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 7,695 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $870,000 after purchasing an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. TCV Trust & Wealth Management Inc. now owns 121,856 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $13,783,000 after buying an additional 2,459 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,981 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,183,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of ABT opened at $131.48 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $117.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.42. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $132.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.19, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during 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%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. This is a boost 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 30.85%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.