Brookstone Capital Management Sells 14,252 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Brookstone Capital Management reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 30.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 33,221 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 14,252 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,407,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position 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 buying an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,437 shares during the last quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 13,123 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,484,000 after buying an additional 3,064 shares during the period. Finally, Andra AP fonden boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 83,408 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $9,434,000 after buying an additional 13,800 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This 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. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ABT. Leerink Partners began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $143.11.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.03 on Wednesday, reaching $133.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,656,185 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,156,529. 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 cap of $231.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73. The business's fifty day moving average price is $133.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.69. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 30.61%.

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.