Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 98,783 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 13,501 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories comprises approximately 3.0% of Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $11,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $19,075,481,000 after purchasing an additional 739,260 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,963,974,000 after purchasing an additional 488,764 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,942,709,000 after acquiring an additional 280,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $2,373,461,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $130.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $226.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.34. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. 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) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

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.