Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 3.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 236,650 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 8,221 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $31,392,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Cim LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Cim LLC now owns 16,967 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,919,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,236 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Capital Square LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 954 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $320,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE ABT traded down $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $135.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,927,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,098,055. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization 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 company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $131.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.37.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.