Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers cut its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 373,755 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 7,668 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $42,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 52.6% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 280,090 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $31,712,000 after acquiring an additional 96,567 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 9,970 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,128,000 after purchasing an additional 811 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 5,835 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $660,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 72,951 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $8,251,000 after buying an additional 2,104 shares during the period. Finally, Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,873 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $551,000 after buying an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $0.50 on Friday, hitting $133.50. 4,976,102 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,124,497. The firm has a market capitalization of $232.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $129.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $123.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. UBS Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859 in the last 90 days. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.