Avior Wealth Management LLC Sells 3,355 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Avior Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 43,738 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 3,355 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial increased 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. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.61.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

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

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $132.88. The stock had a trading volume of 11,316,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,120,549. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $132.19 and a 200-day moving average of $126.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company has a market capitalization of $231.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 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.