Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,716 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wormser Freres Gestion bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director directly owned 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. 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. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Six 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.11.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $133.35 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.69. The company has a market capitalization of $232.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.61%.

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.