Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 230,815 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 7,197 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $26,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. United Bank raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 52,371 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,971,000 after buying an additional 3,265 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 16.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,423,015 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $162,238,000 after buying an additional 204,478 shares during the period. KPP Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,387 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $956,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares during the period. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,735 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 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 directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. 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 research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upped 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $127.02 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $127.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $119.43. The company has a market capitalization of $220.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm 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. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio 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.