New York Life Investment Management LLC Sells 46,710 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

New York Life Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 15.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 250,915 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 46,710 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $27,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the third quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 21,419 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Perigon Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,182,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 91,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,897,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 634.6% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 29,758 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,882,000 after purchasing an additional 25,707 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 at this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now 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 at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $106.29. 4,096,740 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,607,345. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $113.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.44.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS 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 issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays reduced 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 note on Monday, April 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

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.