Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd Cuts Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd trimmed its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 33.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,000 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment raised 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 acquiring an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing 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, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $127.02 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $220.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $127.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.43.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABT. UBS Group raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

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.