Graybill Wealth Management LTD. Buys New Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Graybill Wealth Management LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 53,262 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $7,065,000. Abbott Laboratories comprises 2.4% of Graybill Wealth Management LTD.'s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted 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 Tuesday, July 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $143.78.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $130.69. 1,950,071 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,139,777. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. The business's fifty day moving average price is $133.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction 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 owned 34,058 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.