Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. Takes $303,000 Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Rainey & Randall Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,287 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Three Seasons Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $1,428,000. Kelly Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth about $216,000. Voleon Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $273,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $17,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares during the period. Finally, Edge Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the first quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $143.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded down $1.66 on Friday, reaching $131.95. 4,661,224 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,161,139. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The company's 50 day moving average is $133.52 and its 200-day moving average is $129.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. 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 (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 company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories's 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.