Buckingham Capital Management Inc. Trims Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 55.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,427 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 24,982 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,311,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $204,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 268,538 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $30,616,000 after acquiring an additional 40,783 shares during the last quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $211,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 4,079 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $3,623,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of ABT traded up $1.87 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $135.04. 7,117,852 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,596,108. The company's fifty day moving average price is $120.75 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.83. The company has a market capitalization of $234.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $135.41.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.