Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 76.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 693 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,311 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $76,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $131,000. United Bank grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 27,280 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,229,000 after buying an additional 1,826 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 813,253 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $96,257,000 after buying an additional 15,521 shares during the last quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 19,467 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,304,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 636.2% in the 1st quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 1,915 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.3 %

ABT stock opened at $109.20 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.48 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $114.57 and a 200-day moving average of $107.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The company 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 quarter last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 in the last 90 days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.