Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 97,205 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 851 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 1.2% of Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Folger Nolan Fleming Douglas Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $10,699,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 68.8% in the 3rd quarter. Connecticut Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,808 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $659,000 after buying an additional 2,776 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 6,300 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $610,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Advisory Services Inc. TX ADV now owns 23,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,270,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 41,981 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,066,000 after acquiring an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. now owns 136,829 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $13,252,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $107.53. The company had a trading volume of 3,575,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,219,304. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced 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. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 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 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 2.05%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. Corporate 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.