Bender Robert & Associates Sells 1,553 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bender Robert & Associates lessened its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 27.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,085 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,553 shares during the quarter. Bender Robert & Associates’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $945,453,000 after buying an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $676,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,069,771 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,688,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.4%

NYSE:ABT opened at $132.18 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $131.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $126.62. The firm has a market cap of $229.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly 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 business 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 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.61%.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.