Parthenon LLC Trims Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Parthenon LLC reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,408 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,621 shares during the quarter. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,208,711 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,022,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,219 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,016,235 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,229,122,000 after purchasing an additional 343,559 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,153,877 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,164,611,000 after purchasing an additional 32,157 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 9,149,611 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,007,098,000 after purchasing an additional 135,821 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 5,949,700 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $576,228,000 after purchasing an additional 20,851 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Evercore ISI upped their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of 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 reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company 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 given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $1.33 on Tuesday, hitting $105.94. 5,073,568 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,625,535. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.44.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

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.