Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 252.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,933 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 30,748 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Cim LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 16,967 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $507,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,327 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,298,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Edge Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price target for the company. William Blair upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $144.47.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $0.07 during trading on Thursday, hitting $125.77. 2,620,499 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,971,195. 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 has a 52-week low of $99.92 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $132.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $129.70. The company has a market cap of $218.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 29.57%.

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.