Banque Pictet & Cie SA Sells 75,082 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA lowered its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 17.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 347,650 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 75,082 shares during the period. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $46,116,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Six 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 a consensus price target of $143.11.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $132.44 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $133.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. Equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.61%.

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.