SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,234 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 299 shares during the quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $128.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 13th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $123.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.00.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.1 %

ABT stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Thursday, reaching $113.64. 5,278,016 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,747,185. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.42. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The company has a market capitalization of $197.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 67.48%.

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.