Legato Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Legato Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 52.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,779 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 5,376 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 6.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 808,863 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $91,400,000 after acquiring an additional 50,592 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 33.7% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,185 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,845,000 after purchasing an additional 4,080 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 45,022 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,422 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co. of Vermont increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 208,881 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $23,815,000 after purchasing an additional 2,958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of ABT opened at $130.63 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $132.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.08, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $118.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.