Notable Abbott Laboratories Insider Trades $4.14 Million In Company Stock

Michael J Pederson, Senior Vice President at Abbott Laboratories ABT, made a large buy and sell of company shares on September 8, according to a new SEC filing.

What Happened: A Form 4 filing from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reports that on September 8, Michael J Pederson bought 23,008 Abbott Laboratories shares at a price of $50.72 per share, for a total of $1,166,966. They then sold their shares on the same day in the open market at a price of $129.05 to raise a total of $2,969,173 from the sale.

Pederson still owns a total of 62,646 of Abbott Laboratories worth, $8,006,158.

Abbott Laboratories shares are trading down 0.78% at $127.8 at the time of this writing on Monday morning.

The Importance of Insider Transactions

Insider transactions shouldn't be used primarily to make an investing decision, however an insider transaction can be an important factor in the investing decision.

In legal terms, an "insider" refers to any shareholder who owns at least 10% of a company. This can include executives in the c-suite and large hedge funds. These insiders are required to let the public know of their transactions via a Form 4 filing, which must be filed within two business days of the transaction.

When a company insider makes a new purchase, that is an indication that they expect the stock to rise.

Insider sells, on the other hand, can be made for a variety of reasons, and may not necessarily mean that the seller thinks the stock will go down.

Important Transaction Codes

Investors prefer focusing on transactions that take place in the open market, indicated in Table I of the Form 4 filing. A P in Box 3 indicates a purchase, while S indicates a sale. Transaction code C indicates the conversion of an option, and transaction code A indicates the insider may have been forced to sell shares in order to receive compensation that had been promised upon being hired by the company.

Check Out The Full List Of Abbott Laboratories's Insider Trades.