Welch & Forbes LLC Has $71.96 Million Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 636,194 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,915 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $71,960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 21,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,460,000 after purchasing an additional 8,535 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 81.0% in the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 593,755 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $67,160,000 after purchasing an additional 265,750 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 13,123 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 3,064 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 137,763 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $15,582,000 after acquiring an additional 2,866 shares during the period. Finally, Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 2,873 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ABT. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,282 shares of company stock worth $3,263,348 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 2.0 %

ABT opened at $134.90 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $124.90 and its 200-day moving average is $118.53. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $233.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.63, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

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.