Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 8,745 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 270,943 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 8,745 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $30,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 354,435 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $40,409,000 after acquiring an additional 22,932 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 10,904 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 872 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.5% in the third quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 1,478 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $169,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the third quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 160,251 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $18,270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Werlinich Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 13,695 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,561,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $2.97 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $132.07. The stock had a trading volume of 8,679,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,253,920. The company has a market capitalization of $229.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $116.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.71. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $132.50.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective 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. Raymond James reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $133.06.

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.