Quilter Plc Has $427,000 Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Quilter Plc lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,772 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 83 shares during the period. Quilter Plc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $298,000. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $219,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 69,851 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,964,000 after acquiring an additional 3,268 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 18.7% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 3,137 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 16,975 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,985 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.7 %

ABT opened at $129.11 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $223.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a fifty day moving average of $117.46 and a 200-day moving average of $115.18. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $132.50.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

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.