Nisa Investment Advisors LLC Sells 19,550 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC decreased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 518,441 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 19,550 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $68,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $945,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,494,851,000 after buying an additional 2,060,650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised 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. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $143.11.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $133.41. The stock had a trading volume of 4,613,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,162,456. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $232.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73. The firm's 50 day moving average is $133.43 and its 200 day moving average is $128.69.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 1.77%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

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.