National Bank of Canada FI Has $114.30 Million Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

National Bank of Canada FI cut its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,040,659 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 19,083 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 0.06% of Abbott Laboratories worth $114,296,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 236.0% in the 4th quarter. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. now owns 336 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 79.4% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 454 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of ABT stock traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $105.90. The company had a trading volume of 3,610,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,320,693. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. 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 firm has a market cap of $183.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $112.52 and a 200 day moving average of $108.71.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company'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 transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.