Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Cuts Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC trimmed its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,279 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 134 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $361,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 14,037.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,349,176 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $148,504,000 after buying an additional 1,339,633 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,022,564,000 after buying an additional 1,298,219 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 30.8% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,627,373 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $351,311,000 after buying an additional 853,997 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 28.0% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,664,856 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $354,941,000 after buying an additional 801,191 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 47.7% in the third quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,423,715 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $234,737,000 after purchasing an additional 783,090 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.50.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.6 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $107.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $186.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $113.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $108.03.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.