First Long Island Investors LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

First Long Island Investors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 341,791 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,052 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 3.2% of First Long Island Investors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. First Long Island Investors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $38,848,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 25,085 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 12,287 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.4% during the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 591 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Berger Financial Group Inc raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 3,423 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

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 owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE ABT traded up $1.12 on Thursday, reaching $104.17. The stock had a trading volume of 5,025,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,659,196. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.72. 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 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $104.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.76.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.