2,689 Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Purchased by Lesa Sroufe & Co

Lesa Sroufe & Co bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,689 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $357,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $200,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $9,325,000 after acquiring an additional 15,692 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,120,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 28,683 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,244,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $133.99 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $131.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.58. The stock has a market cap of $233.12 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the director now owns 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories 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.

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