Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 92,944 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Private Advisor Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 37.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,139 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 92,944 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $20,845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $945,453,000 after acquiring an additional 6,628,310 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $676,866,000 after buying an additional 5,069,771 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,494,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ABT. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. William Blair upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.47.

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 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 owned 34,058 shares of the company's stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 2.7%

NYSE ABT traded up $3.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $123.81. 19,570,335 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,224,928. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.92 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $215.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $129.56.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.83% and a net margin of 32.43%. The firm had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.57%.

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.