Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 23.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 709 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 215 shares during the quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $80,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,985,233,000 after purchasing an additional 581,325 shares in the last quarter. Partners in Financial Planning bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $259,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 198,839 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,491,000 after acquiring an additional 38,112 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. United Bank now owns 28,813 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $74,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $132.76 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. 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 cap of $230.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average of $130.44 and a 200-day moving average of $120.51.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

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.