Greenleaf Trust Lowers Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Greenleaf Trust reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,886 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,012 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $10,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,278,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886,954 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,298,219 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 30,218,560 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,016,235 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,229,122,000 after acquiring an additional 343,559 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $1,893,715,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.31.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded up $2.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $107.29. The stock had a trading volume of 10,525,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,763,002. The business’s fifty day moving average is $114.28 and its 200-day moving average is $107.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $186.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The business 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 revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Company insiders own 1.10% 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.