Waycross Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Waycross Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 70.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,289 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 10,200 shares during the quarter. Waycross Partners LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $472,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14,037.9% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,349,176 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $148,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339,633 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,022,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,219 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,627,373 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $351,311,000 after purchasing an additional 853,997 shares during the last quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 28.0% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 3,664,856 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $354,941,000 after purchasing an additional 801,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 47.7% during the 3rd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,423,715 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $234,737,000 after purchasing an additional 783,090 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Raymond James restated a "buy" rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $121.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.2 %

ABT stock traded down $1.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $105.94. The company had a trading volume of 5,073,568 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,625,535. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $183.82 billion, a PE ratio of 33.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $113.29 and a 200 day moving average of $108.44. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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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