Mechanics Financial Corp Sells 308 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Mechanics Financial Corp trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,225 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 308 shares during the period. Mechanics Financial Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $478,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. United Bank increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.1% during the third quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 70,919 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,085,000 after purchasing an additional 12,842 shares during the period. Carl P. Sherr & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $205,000. Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $4,937,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 693,148 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $79,026,000 after acquiring an additional 120,967 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ABT. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $130.81 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 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 company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio 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.