Zacks Investment Management Sells 62,891 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Zacks Investment Management decreased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 537,785 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 62,891 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $60,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 171,826 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $19,435,000 after acquiring an additional 17,747 shares during the last quarter. Stenger Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $434,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 16,925 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,914,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Finward Bancorp bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $622,000. Finally, Delaney Dennis R increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Delaney Dennis R now owns 60,571 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $6,851,000 after buying an additional 985 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business'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 transaction 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 $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 over the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT traded down $1.56 on Monday, hitting $129.42. The stock had a trading volume of 1,500,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,009,208. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $130.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.96. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $224.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. 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 (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.61%.

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.