Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Sells 58,222 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,289,091 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 58,222 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises 1.8% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $258,919,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. United Bank boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 70,919 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,085,000 after purchasing an additional 12,842 shares in the last quarter. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,937,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 693,148 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $79,026,000 after purchasing an additional 120,967 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % 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. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE ABT opened at $130.81 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.34. 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 has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23.

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 company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.