Guardian Investment Management Sells 3,882 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Guardian Investment Management cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 35.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,050 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 3,882 shares during the quarter. Guardian Investment Management's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $945,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $7,688,160,000 after buying an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.61.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% 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. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $2.18 on Wednesday, hitting $134.08. The stock had a trading volume of 4,319,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,153,921. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $133.03 and a 200 day moving average of $127.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.39, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.