Montag A & Associates Inc. Increases Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Montag A & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 104,841 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,198 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,494,851,000 after purchasing an additional 2,060,650 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $143.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, BTIG Research decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $123.81 on Friday. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $132.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $129.56. 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 has a 12-month low of $99.92 and a 12-month high of $141.23. 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.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS 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 net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued 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 yield of 1.91%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 30.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,058 shares of the company's stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ABT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.