Whalerock Point Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Whalerock Point Partners LLC cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,478 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Whalerock Point Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $846,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Three Seasons Wealth LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,428,000. Welch Group LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,744,000 after purchasing an additional 3,479 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $133,691,000 after purchasing an additional 57,499 shares in the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,791,000 after buying an additional 5,881 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Bank of America upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 over the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $128.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $223.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $130.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.46. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

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.