Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft Acquires 4,842 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Key Points

• Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 94.2% in Q1, acquiring an additional 4,842 shares, bringing its total to 9,981 shares valued at approximately $1.32 million.
• Other institutional investors also boosted their stakes in Abbott, with Eastern Bank growing its holdings by 203.5%, now owning 238,843 shares worth over $31 million.
• Abbott Laboratories declared a quarterly dividend of $0.59 to be paid on August 15th, representing an annualized yield of 1.84%.

Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 94.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,981 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 4,842 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cim LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Cim LLC now owns 16,967 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Capital Square LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,327 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,298,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Opes Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the first quarter. Opes Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,854 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday, July 18th. William Blair upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of ABT traded up $0.71 on Friday, hitting $126.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 637,891 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,913,095. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $131.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $130.26. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $107.11 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.57%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.