Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lessened its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 179,412 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 3,104 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up 0.8% of Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $23,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted 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 worth $676,866,000 after buying an additional 5,069,771 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of ABT traded down $1.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $135.41. The company had a trading volume of 3,927,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,098,055. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $235.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $131.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Four 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.59.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.