Hill Island Financial LLC Decreases Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Hill Island Financial LLC cut its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 49.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,261 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 2,201 shares during the quarter. Hill Island Financial LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during 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 buying an additional 6,628,310 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 5,069,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,688,160,000 after buying an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price 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. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $132.88 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $126.88. The company has a market cap of $231.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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