Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stake Lessened by Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 76.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 693 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,311 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $76,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 12,287 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 3,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Avion Wealth increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 591 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the first quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,029 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE ABT opened at $109.20 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $114.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 67.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.14.

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.