Blue Barn Wealth LLC Trims Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Blue Barn Wealth LLC reduced its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 9.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,802 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 286 shares during the period. Blue Barn Wealth LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 25,085 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 12,287 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Avion Wealth boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.4% in the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 591 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Investment Group LLC now owns 14,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,563,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,712 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of ABT traded down $1.23 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $104.94. The company had a trading volume of 6,195,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,559,903. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $112.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.85. The stock has a market cap of $182.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.73, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 13,935 shares of company stock valued at $1,670,048 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.