Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Holdings Increased by Demars Financial Group LLC

Demars Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 16.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 323,577 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 46,194 shares during the quarter. Demars Financial Group LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $42,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $132.35. 4,950,337 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,109,757. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.76. The company has a market capitalization of $230.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.