Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Fiduciary Group LLC

Fiduciary Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,527 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the period. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,192,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 16.2% in the first quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 279,830 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $37,119,000 after purchasing an additional 38,916 shares during the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,294 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,896,000 after acquiring an additional 1,303 shares in the last quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% during the first quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,743 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,690,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the first quarter. NovaPoint Capital LLC now owns 32,985 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,375,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.4% in the first quarter. Meadow Creek Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,165 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $135.54 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $133.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.97. The company has a market cap of $235.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.58, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several research reports. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Six investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.61.

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.