Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC Invests $294,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,220 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $294,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $9,325,000 after acquiring an additional 15,692 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,755 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $17,274,000 after acquiring an additional 2,774 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 18,622 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,106,000 after buying an additional 2,860 shares during the period. Finally, FFT Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. FFT Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,998 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, June 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.61.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $134.40. 9,513,093 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,158,384. 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 $233.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73. The firm's 50-day moving average is $132.75 and its 200-day moving average is $127.43. 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 (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. 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.