West Paces Advisors Inc. Has $432,000 Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

West Paces Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,803 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 106 shares during the period. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,115,836,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $9,530,825,000 after buying an additional 7,527,778 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12,577.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,772,670 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $415,948,000 after buying an additional 3,742,912 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,009,838 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $551,434,000 after buying an additional 1,477,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 64,294,784 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,077,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,457,847 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.64.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ABT stock traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $104.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,406,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,699,324. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $104.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.17. The company has a market cap of $182.45 billion, a PE ratio of 32.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 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.