Verus Capital Partners LLC Has $495,000 Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Verus Capital Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 23.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,380 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,325 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Welch Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,744,000 after buying an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,791,000 after acquiring an additional 5,881 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 5,664 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,828,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $137.99 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $239.32 billion, a PE ratio of 18.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $123.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.77. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $138.37.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ABT. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

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.