Narwhal Capital Management Buys 8,582 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Narwhal Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 16.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 60,055 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 8,582 shares during the quarter. Narwhal Capital Management's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Cim LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 16,967 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,919,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Capital Square LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 954 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company'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 sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays lifted 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, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $132.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The company's 50-day moving average is $132.19 and its 200-day moving average is $127.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $231.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. Equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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