Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 106 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,178 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 106 shares during the period. Eldridge Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 236.0% in the 4th quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 336 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on 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 reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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, April 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $0.22 during trading on Thursday, reaching $106.07. The stock had a trading volume of 1,921,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,563,032. The company has a market capitalization of $184.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.80, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.43.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.