Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Mawer Investment Management Ltd.

Mawer Investment Management Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,356,107 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 43,679 shares during the period. Mawer Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $153,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Welch Group LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 68,653 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,744,000 after buying an additional 3,479 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $133,691,000 after acquiring an additional 57,499 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,791,000 after purchasing an additional 5,881 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $2,828,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $130.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $226.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.37.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.