Jacobs & Co. CA Sells 570 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Jacobs & Co. CA lowered its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 68,720 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 570 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $131,000. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 27,280 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 813,253 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $96,257,000 after purchasing an additional 15,521 shares during the last quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 19,467 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,304,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 636.2% in the first quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 1,915 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $113.47 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $115.14 and a 200 day moving average of $106.37. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $196.89 billion, a PE ratio of 34.81, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.48%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.