Welch & Forbes LLC Lowers Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 634,527 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,667 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 1.1% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $84,170,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Three Seasons Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $1,428,000. Kelly Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at about $216,000. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $273,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edge Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.33.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $131.41 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $129.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $228.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.04, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by 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.