Federated Hermes Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Federated Hermes Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,064,908 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 22,738 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 0.06% of Abbott Laboratories worth $117,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $28,000. FWL Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 132.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 333 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $0.65 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $105.25. 2,161,420 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,628,612. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $114.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 67.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ABT. Citigroup boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.31.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.