Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Norden Group LLC

Norden Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,424 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,053 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 0.4% of Norden Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the third quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 21,756 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,107,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth $483,000. RMR Wealth Builders grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 41.6% in the third quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 14,035 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 4,121 shares in the last quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sweet Financial Partners LLC now owns 21,830 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,114,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toews Corp ADV bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $775,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.90 on Tuesday, hitting $106.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,025,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,586,987. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $113.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.34. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $184.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048 in the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.