WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

WestHill Financial Advisors Inc. lowered its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 18.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,937 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 425 shares during the period. WestHill Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $131,000. United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 27,280 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 813,253 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $96,257,000 after purchasing an additional 15,521 shares during the period. Kinneret Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the first quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 19,467 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 636.2% during the first quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $262,000 after purchasing an additional 1,915 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $105.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,800,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,624,748. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $114.42 and a 200-day moving average of $107.59. The stock has a market cap of $183.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Raymond James boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $128.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.