Alerus Financial NA Cuts Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Alerus Financial NA cut its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,312 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 208 shares during the quarter. Alerus Financial NA’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. United Bank raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after buying an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 70,919 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,085,000 after purchasing an additional 12,842 shares during the period. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $205,000. Fred Alger Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth approximately $4,937,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 21.1% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 693,148 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $79,026,000 after buying an additional 120,967 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $130.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $130.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.34. The stock has a market cap of $226.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect 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 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value 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 trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were 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 directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % 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 in the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.