Midland Wealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Midland Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,634 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 159 shares during the period. Midland Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,881,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 557,608 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $63,573,000 after acquiring an additional 2,754 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.4% in the third quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 4,103 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $1,044,000. United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 11.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 132,020 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $15,052,000 after buying an additional 13,523 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.6 %

ABT opened at $137.23 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $238.00 billion, a PE ratio of 17.94, a P/E/G 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. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $125.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.82.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a 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 note on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.19.

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.