Haverford Trust Co Lowers Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Haverford Trust Co trimmed its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,760 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,604 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $11,058,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.5 %

ABT opened at $126.18 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $128.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. 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 $218.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.49, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted 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 business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 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.