Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Position Increased by ORG Wealth Partners LLC

ORG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,155 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 3,371 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 2.0% of ORG Wealth Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. ORG Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,078,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $9,325,000 after purchasing an additional 15,692 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,755 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,120,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% in 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 buying an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price 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. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Six research 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.61.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of ABT traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $132.35. The company had a trading volume of 4,950,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,109,757. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.66. The stock has a market cap of $230.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. 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.