IHT Wealth Management LLC Sells 7,981 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

IHT Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 17.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,371 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 7,981 shares during the quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,373,461,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $635,056,000. Capital International Investors grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,018,429 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,020,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948,329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,480.2% during the 4th quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 1,551,626 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $169,488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,436 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four equities research 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.59.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $128.90. The company had a trading volume of 4,849,055 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,073,198. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $223.55 billion, a PE ratio of 16.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $130.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.51.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.