Carret Asset Management LLC Has $5.79 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Carret Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 50,949 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 285 shares during the quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.18.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $0.87 on Wednesday, hitting $102.33. 2,014,606 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,653,487. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $104.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.99, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted 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 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In related 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, 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 value of $2,428,025.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.47% 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.