Clark Asset Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Clark Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,271 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $9,325,000 after buying an additional 15,692 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $17,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $449,000. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 144,900 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $16,390,000 after purchasing an additional 11,784 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of ABT traded down $0.42 on Thursday, hitting $133.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,114,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,158,307. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $133.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $128.01. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $232.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ABT. Barclays boosted 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average 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.