Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC Cuts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC trimmed its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 18.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,729 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 840 shares during the quarter. Bedell Frazier Investment Counselling LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $130.81 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $226.87 billion, a PE ratio of 17.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $130.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $120.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.