Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Acquired by Atria Investments Inc

Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,084 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,577 shares during the quarter. Atria Investments Inc's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $22,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Three Seasons Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,428,000. Kelly Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at about $216,000. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $273,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $17,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Edge Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Leerink Partners started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, June 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. BTIG Research decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of ABT traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $126.53. 4,741,228 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,571,204. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.92 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.73. The business's 50-day moving average price is $132.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.88.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm'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 value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.