Montag A & Associates Inc. Reduces Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Montag A & Associates Inc. lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 102,643 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 1,944 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $11,610,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of ABT stock traded up $2.00 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $132.18. 3,801,780 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,628,037. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $132.65. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $229.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.28, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.75.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. UBS Group upped 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. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four 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, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $133.06.

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.