Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. Sells 218,745 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 15.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,163,629 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 218,745 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up 1.2% of Capital Group Private Client Services Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of Abbott Laboratories worth $131,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $131.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $121.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. On average, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

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.