Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc lessened its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 24.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,258 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,972 shares during the period. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $830,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.5%

ABT opened at $134.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company has a market capitalization of $233.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $132.82 and its 200-day moving average is $127.66. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

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.