Fox Hill Wealth Management Reduces Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Fox Hill Wealth Management lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 68.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,259 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 9,358 shares during the quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT traded down $0.61 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $126.18. 8,853,820 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,482,576. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The business's 50 day moving average is $128.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $137.94.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.