Belmont Capital LLC Reduces Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Belmont Capital LLC cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 52.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,593 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,740 shares during the period. Belmont Capital LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $180,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Ltd. CA grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 142,259 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $16,091,000 after purchasing an additional 4,212 shares during the last quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Group Investment Management PTE. LTD. now owns 29,386 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,324,000 after buying an additional 666 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,688,160,000 after buying an additional 2,229,026 shares during the period. Capital International Sarl raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 272,580 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $30,832,000 after buying an additional 16,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $131.00 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $130.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.72. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $227.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. As a group, equities research 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 Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following 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 trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

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.