AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC Sells 99 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,781 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 99 shares during the quarter. AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,898,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Welch Group LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $7,744,000 after buying an additional 3,479 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% in the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 5,664 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,828,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $135.89 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $136.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $122.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $117.56. The firm has a market cap of $235.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued 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 lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

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.