Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Raymond James & Associates

Raymond James & Associates lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.0% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,153,909 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 91,118 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $358,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the 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 directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on ABT. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $107.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,575,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,219,304. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $113.64 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.03. The firm has a market cap of $186.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

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.