Brown Advisory Inc. Decreases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Brown Advisory Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 518,150 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 6,721 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $68,733,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Three Seasons Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,428,000. Kelly Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $216,000. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $273,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in 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. Finally, Edge Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the first quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased 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 stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Six investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $143.11.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 transaction, the director directly owned 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:ABT traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $133.41. The stock had a trading volume of 4,613,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,162,454. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $128.69. The company has a market capitalization of $232.11 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. 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.