Brown Advisory Inc. Has $59.37 Million Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 524,871 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 8,124 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $59,368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment 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 an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $133.50. 4,976,102 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,076,553. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $232.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

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.