Aspiriant LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Aspiriant LLC lowered its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,260 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 674 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABT. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 24.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 246,749 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $32,730,000 after acquiring an additional 49,005 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 12,322 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,635,000 after acquiring an additional 2,352 shares during the last quarter. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $797,000. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 161.0% during the 1st quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 27,682 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,653,000 after acquiring an additional 17,074 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accelerate Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $219,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $132.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.14, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.