Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC

Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,488 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,904 shares during the quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4%

ABT opened at $133.50 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $232.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $129.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $123.56. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.