Bender Robert & Associates Sells 182 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bender Robert & Associates cut its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,134 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 182 shares during the period. Bender Robert & Associates’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 132.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 333 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.63 during trading on Thursday, hitting $105.27. 7,295,800 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,699,424. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.59.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.31.

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.