Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Trims Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 93.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,487 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 543,928 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Leo Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $999,000. MONECO Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 303.3% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 13,971 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,538,000 after purchasing an additional 10,507 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $336,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $128,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,222,332,000 after purchasing an additional 701,740 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ABT opened at $103.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $180.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $105.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.14.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.64.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.