Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by JNBA Financial Advisors

JNBA Financial Advisors decreased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,192 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 284 shares during the period. JNBA Financial Advisors’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE 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 cap of $226.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $118.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $116.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

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

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.