Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Linscomb Wealth Inc.

Key Points

• Linscomb Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.2%, owning a total of 104,936 shares after purchasing an additional 4,245 shares during the first quarter.
• Abbott Laboratories reported quarterly earnings of $1.26 per share, meeting analysts' estimates, with revenue of $11.14 billion, up 7.4% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per share with a yield of 1.8%, reflecting a payout ratio of 29.57%.

Linscomb Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 4.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 104,936 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 4,245 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises 0.7% of Linscomb Wealth Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Linscomb Wealth Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth approximately $1,658,180,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $945,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $676,866,000 after buying an additional 5,069,771 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,120,516,000 after buying an additional 3,616,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,688,160,000 after buying an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total value of $746,752.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,862,453.65. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $129.65. 7,281,216 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,882,943. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $225.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $131.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $131.15. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $109.76 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 32.43%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Raymond James Financial reduced their price objective 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, July 18th. William Blair upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.47.

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.