Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC

Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC reduced its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,097 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $28,000. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 in the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet raised Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Raymond James increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.14.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded down $0.70 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $110.50. 5,810,209 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,667,378. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $191.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 67.48%.

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.