1834 Investment Advisors Co. Sells 535 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

1834 Investment Advisors Co. lessened its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,240 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 535 shares during the period. 1834 Investment Advisors Co.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $960,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Wormser Freres Gestion purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of ABT opened at $131.01 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $131.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.73. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $107.11 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.82. The firm has a market cap of $228.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.47.

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.