Buckingham Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 55.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 20,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 24,982 shares during the quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE ABT opened at $130.63 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $132.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.14. The firm has a market cap of $226.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for 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 was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.