Mawer Investment Management Ltd. Sells 44,886 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. decreased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,311,221 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 44,886 shares during the quarter. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $173,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,079,490 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $122,101,000 after acquiring an additional 80,661 shares during the last quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $74,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 198,839 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,491,000 after acquiring an additional 38,112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $126.28 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.92 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $219.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $132.20 and a 200 day moving average of $130.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 29.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.47.

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.