Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Axxcess Wealth Management LLC

Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 7.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 130,099 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 8,666 shares during the quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $17,258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 99.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,896 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 4,437 shares during the period. Isthmus Partners LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $552,000. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 75,267 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $8,513,000 after buying an additional 5,949 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $143.11.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $133.64. 4,852,335 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,155,060. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. 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 50 day moving average of $133.54 and a 200-day moving average of $128.86. The stock has a market cap of $232.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.