D.A. Davidson & CO. Has $22.11 Million Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 166,676 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 8,926 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $22,110,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $945,453,000 after acquiring an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABT. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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. Leerink Partners started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Six research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.61.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the director directly owned 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded down $0.42 on Thursday, hitting $133.70. 3,114,335 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,158,307. The company's fifty day moving average is $133.11 and its 200 day moving average is $128.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $232.61 billion, a PE ratio of 17.34, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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