Platform Technology Partners Trims Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Platform Technology Partners lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,579 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 171 shares during the period. Platform Technology Partners’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $129.11 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $132.50. The stock has a market cap of $223.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company 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 company earned $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.