Western Wealth Management LLC Sells 592 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Western Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,635 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 592 shares during the quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,278,132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886,954 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,022,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,219 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 30,218,560 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,016,235 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,229,122,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,893,715,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.31.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $2.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $107.46. The stock had a trading volume of 1,497,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,638,888. The firm has a market cap of $186.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $114.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.57. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

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.