Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 32,608 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 607 shares during the quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,589,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,115,836,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12,577.8% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,772,670 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $415,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,742,912 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14,037.9% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,349,176 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $148,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339,633 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% in the third 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. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,226,618 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $575,304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,046 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ABT. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.60.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.3 %

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $103.95. The stock had a trading volume of 4,455,866 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,510,455. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $108.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.63. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The firm has a market cap of $180.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 34,384 shares of company stock valued at $3,653,916. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.