Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,854 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 84 shares during the period. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $246,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 24.8% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 246,749 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $32,730,000 after purchasing an additional 49,005 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 12,322 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,635,000 after buying an additional 2,352 shares in the last quarter. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $797,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 161.0% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,682 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,653,000 after buying an additional 17,074 shares during the period. Finally, Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at about $219,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

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 transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $132.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $131.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.66.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its 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. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Leerink Partners began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.61.

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.