Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Sells 885,905 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich cut its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 43.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,141,237 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 885,905 shares during the period. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $125,616,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 130.6% during the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 10,502 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 5,948 shares during the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 97.0% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 17,099 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,882,000 after buying an additional 8,421 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 3,916 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 910 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $55,000. Finally, GHE LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 12,547 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,381,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’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 value 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Barclays lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Citigroup raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT remained flat at $106.89 during trading on Thursday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,111,313 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,687,034. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $185.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $113.90 and its 200 day moving average is $107.97. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.