Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 12,562 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 550 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises 1.2% of Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Valley Brook Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 634.6% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 29,758 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,882,000 after buying an additional 25,707 shares during the period. Finally, VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 215 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 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other 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 value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 13,935 shares of company stock valued at $1,670,048. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, reaching $105.90. The stock had a trading volume of 3,610,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,320,693. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $112.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.71. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

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.