Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Burt Wealth Advisors

Burt Wealth Advisors reduced its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,037 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Burt Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $945,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $676,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,069,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,688,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.4%

ABT opened at $132.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $132.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.88. The company has a market cap of $231.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.61%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Six 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.61.

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.