Verity & Verity LLC Lowers Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Verity & Verity LLC cut its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 67,955 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 893 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Insight Inv LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $26,000. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Johnson Midwest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 28.7% during the third quarter. Johnson Midwest Financial LLC now owns 560 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. 72.93% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $97.01 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $93.25 and a 12-month high of $124.36. The stock has a market cap of $168.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a PEG ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $106.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 25th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 15.88% and a return on equity of 26.09%. The firm had revenue of $10.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.69 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.32 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was down 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 52.17%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $68,375.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,427 shares in the company, valued at $7,091,998.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $103,922.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 52,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,256,842.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $68,375.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,091,998.90. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,971 shares of company stock worth $199,140 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 24th. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.67.

About Abbott Laboratories

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Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products.