Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by KCM Investment Advisors LLC

KCM Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 142,877 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,504 shares during the period. KCM Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $16,161,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,855,000. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR now owns 59,200 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $6,696,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the period. Kidder Stephen W boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Kidder Stephen W now owns 92,696 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $10,485,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Somerville Kurt F grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Somerville Kurt F now owns 166,957 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,885,000 after buying an additional 996 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Broderick Brian C grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Broderick Brian C now owns 126,086 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $14,262,000 after acquiring an additional 10,210 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 5.4 %

Shares of ABT opened at $124.46 on Friday. 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 simple moving average of $131.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.82. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $215.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company 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 company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABT. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays reissued 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 investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

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.