Simplicity Wealth LLC Decreases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Simplicity Wealth LLC lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 34.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,252 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 4,380 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $933,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 28,289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,200,000 after buying an additional 1,046 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 32,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,629,000 after purchasing an additional 5,576 shares during the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 79,033 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,939,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,332,000. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 24,876 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,814,000 after purchasing an additional 3,090 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:ABT opened at $137.23 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $238.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $118.82. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities 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 Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.