Brown Advisory Inc. Has $68.73 Million Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Brown Advisory Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. 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 quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $19,075,481,000 after purchasing an additional 739,260 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,688,160,000 after buying an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,097,005 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $6,118,903,000 after buying an additional 795,073 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $4,023,027,000 after buying an additional 765,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,985,233,000 after buying an additional 581,325 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. Six 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $143.11.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded up $0.64 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $133.86. 1,181,181 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,143,741. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $133.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $128.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.89 billion, a PE ratio of 17.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23.

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, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business'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 owned 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.