Calamos Advisors LLC Sells 3,079 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Calamos Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 362,268 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,079 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $39,875,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $131,000. United Bank increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 27,280 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,229,000 after buying an additional 1,826 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 813,253 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $96,257,000 after buying an additional 15,521 shares during the period. Kinneret Advisory LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 19,467 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,304,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in 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 worth $262,000 after buying an additional 1,915 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ABT. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. TheStreet raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’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 approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $0.63 on Thursday, hitting $105.27. The company had a trading volume of 7,295,530 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,699,420. The company has a market capitalization of $182.66 billion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $114.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 67.48%.

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.