Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Sells 6,101 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 266,914 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 6,101 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $29,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $106,000. Hyman Charles D boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Hyman Charles D now owns 44,339 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,880,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $474,000. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 111,176 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $12,252,000 after buying an additional 3,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,990 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction of $114,115.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 13,935 shares of company stock worth $1,670,048. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.53 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $106.17. 6,555,967 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,552,894. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.07, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 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.