Knuff & Co LLC Reduces Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Knuff & Co LLC reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,287 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 510 shares during the quarter. Knuff & Co LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,050,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 216,787 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $24,521,000 after acquiring an additional 23,023 shares during the last quarter. Natural Investments LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $4,731,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 24,975 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after buying an additional 621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miller Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $791,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the business’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 $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Four equities 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $132.57 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $126.23 and its 200-day moving average is $119.13. The firm has a market cap of $229.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business’s 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. Equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

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.