Manning & Napier Group LLC Cuts Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Manning & Napier Group LLC cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 13.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 298,965 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 47,951 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $32,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of ABT stock traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $113.66. 5,278,215 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,602,409. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.47. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The stock has a market cap of $197.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.87, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results 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. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.48%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 sale, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.00.

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.