KRS Capital Management LLC Reduces Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

KRS Capital Management LLC cut its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 7.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,439 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 683 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises approximately 0.8% of KRS Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. KRS Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $959,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 25,085 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,761,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 12,287 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 19.4% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 591 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berger Financial Group Inc lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 3,423 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $377,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $103.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $180.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s fifty day moving average is $104.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.08.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.64.

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.