Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. Decreases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 23.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,055 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,208 shares during the quarter. Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $446,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 30,218,560 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,893,715,000. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,278,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886,954 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 83.1% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,925,012 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $582,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,235,314 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 99.8% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,140,866 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $371,753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,700 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.1 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $110.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.06 billion, a PE ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.19 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 67.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 13th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.14.

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.