SouthState Corp Sells 1,323 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

SouthState Corp trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 50,295 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,323 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. United Bank increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 52,371 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,971,000 after buying an additional 3,265 shares in the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 8.3% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 13,788 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,572,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. Atlanta Consulting Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $464,000. Finally, Tower Bridge Advisors boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the third quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors now owns 45,017 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,132,000 after buying an additional 1,597 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 2.2 %

ABT opened at $127.02 on Monday. 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 $220.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $127.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.47.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABT. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% 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.