Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 11.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,715 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 10,543 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $945,453,000 after buying an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,494,851,000 after buying an additional 2,060,650 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Mizuho raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. William Blair raised Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 2.7%

NYSE:ABT traded up $3.30 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $123.81. 19,570,335 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,224,928. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.92 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $132.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.