Parthenon LLC Sells 500 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Parthenon LLC cut its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,563 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.5 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $132.18 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $132.65. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $119.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.75. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. 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 was Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

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.