Novare Capital Management LLC Sells 2,055 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Novare Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,019 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 2,055 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up 1.2% of Novare Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Novare Capital Management LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Three Seasons Wealth LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $1,428,000. Kelly Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth $216,000. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $273,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $133,691,000 after acquiring an additional 57,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Barclays raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Leerink Partners began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, June 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $143.11.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT traded down $0.35 on Tuesday, hitting $133.35. 4,780,497 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,783,941. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $133.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.66. The firm has a market cap of $232.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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 (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 the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.