Bfsg LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bfsg LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 27.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 339 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 128 shares during the quarter. Bfsg LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $38,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $132.18 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $119.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.53. The firm has a market cap of $229.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $132.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

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.