William Blair Investment Management LLC Sells 3,586 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

William Blair Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,057 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,586 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $11,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Edgemoor Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,053 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $345,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $233,000. Wealth Architects LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Architects LLC now owns 6,018 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $681,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. Curio Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,651 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $413,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ABT. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $127.64 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $127.98 and a 200 day moving average of $119.73. The company has a market capitalization of $221.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.68, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. 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 released its 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 company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.