Moran Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 75,496 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Moran Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 75,496 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $10,015,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Cim LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the fourth 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. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,236 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the fourth 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 increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the first 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. Finally, Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 954 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related 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 now owns 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 price target (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of ABT stock traded up $0.73 on Friday, reaching $134.40. 9,513,093 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,149,849. The company has a market cap of $233.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.43, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $132.82 and a 200-day moving average of $127.66. 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 one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 30.61%.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.