Goldstein Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Goldstein Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 18.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,944 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 448 shares during the quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Six research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

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

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $137.46 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $132.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $127.30. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $239.16 billion, a PE ratio of 17.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 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 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

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.