Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Has $21.56 Million Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 15.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,492 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 29,143 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $21,555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Victrix Investment Advisors bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $342,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $53,000. Tanager Wealth Management LLP lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 28.7% during the first quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 3,653 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 21.2% during the first quarter. Falcon Wealth Planning now owns 2,199 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth about $215,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on 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 Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 2.7%

Shares of ABT stock opened at $133.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $232.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $132.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.43. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. On average, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

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.

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