Fernwood Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Fernwood Investment Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,593 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Fernwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $380,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 14.2% during the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 12,522 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557 shares during the period. Finally, Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% during the third quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 4,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 over the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $123.63 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $130.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.04. The company has a market cap of $214.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

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.