Moody Aldrich Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 2,670 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Moody Aldrich Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,670 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $5,850,000 after buying an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 142,370 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $16,103,000 after purchasing an additional 10,350 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 99.5% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,896 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 4,437 shares during the period. Finally, Inceptionr LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Inceptionr LLC now owns 8,747 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE ABT opened at $133.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a market cap of $232.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.73. The business's fifty day moving average is $133.29 and its 200 day moving average is $128.30.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $142.61.

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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