Van Cleef Asset Management Inc Has $648,000 Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Van Cleef Asset Management Inc cut its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,890 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 110 shares during the quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 21,419 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 91,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $28,344,000 after purchasing an additional 11,508 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock remained flat at $106.89 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s fifty day moving average is $113.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.97. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.