Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 18,940 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 596,088 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 18,940 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $79,071,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" 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 given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT traded up $0.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $132.35. 4,950,337 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,109,757. The company has a market cap of $230.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $131.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $126.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.61%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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.