Blair William & Co. IL Acquires 6,940 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Key Points

• Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4%, acquiring an additional 6,940 shares, bringing their total holdings to 1,579,024 shares valued at approximately $209,458,000.
• Abbott Laboratories recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.26 per share, matching analysts' expectations, with a revenue increase of 7.4% year-over-year to $11.14 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59, with a payout ratio of 29.57% and a current dividend yield of 1.9%.

Blair William & Co. IL boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,579,024 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 6,940 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL owned approximately 0.09% of Abbott Laboratories worth $209,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Hughes Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Wormser Freres Gestion purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, William Blair raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT traded up $0.20 on Tuesday, reaching $130.13. 1,821,025 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,902,011. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $107.11 and a one year high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32, a PEG ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.70. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $131.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $130.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.82, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.57%.

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.