Stewart & Patten Co. LLC Has $21.65 Million Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Stewart & Patten Co. LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 190,495 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 132 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 3.2% of Stewart & Patten Co. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Stewart & Patten Co. LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $21,652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,115,836,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $9,530,825,000 after buying an additional 7,527,778 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in 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 worth $415,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,742,912 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,009,838 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $551,434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,477,671 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 64,294,784 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,077,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457,847 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $0.71 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $103.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,588,590 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,698,602. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $104.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.12. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.64.

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.