Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 10.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 280,718 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 31,548 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $37,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $945,453,000 after acquiring an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $676,866,000 after acquiring an additional 5,069,771 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 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 available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 3.7%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $4.87 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $138.13. 9,894,700 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,117,554. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $132.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.23. The firm has a market cap of $240.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73. 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 (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.71%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.61.

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.