Sepio Capital LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sepio Capital LP cut its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 9.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 193,940 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 19,595 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up 1.8% of Sepio Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $21,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,115,836,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12,577.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,772,670 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $415,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,742,912 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14,037.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,349,176 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $148,504,000 after buying an additional 1,339,633 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,022,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,219 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,226,618 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $575,304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,046 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value 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 $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,384 shares of company stock valued at $3,653,916. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ABT. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.60.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT traded down $0.28 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $103.95. 4,455,647 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,639,875. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $180.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $108.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.47.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.