Boston Partners Lowers Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Key Points

• Boston Partners reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 14.7% during Q1, now holding approximately 3.14 million shares worth about $416 million.
• Analysts have varied price targets for Abbott Laboratories, with Royal Bank of Canada raising their target to $147 and Wells Fargo lowering it to $142, indicating a consensus target of $144.47.
• Abbott Laboratories recently reported quarterly earnings with an EPS of $1.26 and revenue of $11.14 billion, surpassing analyst expectations, while announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.59.

Boston Partners cut its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 14.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,137,886 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 541,794 shares during the quarter. Boston Partners owned approximately 0.18% of Abbott Laboratories worth $416,093,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Three Seasons Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,428,000. Kelly Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at about $216,000. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $273,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $17,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edge Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the first quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total value of $746,752.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,862,453.65. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT traded up $2.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $131.66. 6,784,441 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,973,725. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $110.33 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $229.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $131.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.20.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is 29.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.47.

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.