Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Position Lessened by RNC Capital Management LLC

RNC Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) by 10.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,146 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,866 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 29,024 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,187,000 after acquiring an additional 709 shares in the last quarter. American National Bank raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 7,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 1,952 shares in the last quarter. Norway Savings Bank raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 29,569 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,350 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gries Financial LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 14,575 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,600,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.93% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $68,375.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 70,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,091,998.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $68,375.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 70,427 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,091,998.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $103,922.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 52,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,256,842.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,971 shares of company stock valued at $199,140 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $97.01 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $106.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $93.25 and a one year high of $124.36. The company has a market capitalization of $168.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 26.09% and a net margin of 15.88%. The firm had revenue of $10.09 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.32 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be given a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 13th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABT. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. StockNews.com began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.67.

Abbott Laboratories Profile

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Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products.