Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Aveo Capital Partners LLC

Aveo Capital Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,040 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 218 shares during the quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 22,225 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,514,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares during the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,629 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,542,000 after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. BXM Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $370,000. PUREfi Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $993,000. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during 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. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $130.63 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $226.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50-day moving average of $118.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.00. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $132.65.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 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.