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

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,830 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 716 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,518,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $264,876,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,807 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $191,515,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,764,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,144,818,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,040 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $125.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $125.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $115.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.15. The company has a market cap of $217.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11,029,400 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.50.

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.