Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,692 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 146 shares during the quarter. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $464,000. Holistic Financial Partners raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Holistic Financial Partners now owns 2,962 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 11.7% in the 3rd quarter. Strengthening Families & Communities LLC now owns 8,082 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,522 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $744,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 research report on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $127.54 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The firm has a market cap of $221.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50 day moving average of $127.45 and a 200-day moving average of $119.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value 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 approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.