Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 32.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 484,017 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 229,371 shares during the quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $54,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $200,000. Capital & Planning LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $981,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Cascade Investment Group Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Group Inc. now owns 3,345 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 802 shares during the period. Finally, Hall Laurie J Trustee grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Hall Laurie J Trustee now owns 64,543 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,300,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.59.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $135.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $235.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.29.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

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.

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