Baird Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Baird Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,924,508 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 19,799 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of Abbott Laboratories worth $217,681,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,236 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Capital Square LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 954 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $0.81 on Wednesday, hitting $133.87. 4,924,833 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,129,160. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $130.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $123.15. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $232.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABT. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $142.59.

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.