Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,762,352 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 56,269 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.16% of Abbott Laboratories worth $312,450,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $380,000. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $302,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 54,237 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $6,184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the last quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $239,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 332,189 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $37,873,000 after purchasing an additional 81,669 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ABT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $2.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $132.92. The company had a trading volume of 9,801,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,117,118. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $130.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $230.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

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.