J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Buys 12,246 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 52.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,669 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 12,246 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BKM Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,747 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,752,000 after buying an additional 1,352 shares in the last quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 7,332 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $973,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 104,841 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $13,907,000 after purchasing an additional 2,198 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 128.8% in the 1st quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 15,610 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,066,000 after acquiring an additional 8,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 312.2% in the 1st quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 911 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $121,000 after acquiring an additional 690 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $123.81 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.92 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.73. The company's 50 day moving average price is $132.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. BTIG Research cut their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. William Blair raised Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $144.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Abbott Laboratories

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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