Highland Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Highland Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,398 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 242 shares during the quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,553,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,325,000 after acquiring an additional 15,692 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,774 shares during the period. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $66,000. Finally, Nwam LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 16.1% in the fourth quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 23,920 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,706,000 after acquiring an additional 3,323 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $134.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $233.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 2.54 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $132.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $127.56. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 price target (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.61.

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.