Raymond James Financial Inc. Decreases Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1%, owning 5,496,356 shares after selling 118,142 shares during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Brighton Jones LLC and Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG, increased their holdings in Abbott Laboratories, highlighting a strong interest from large financial entities.
• Abbott Laboratories recently reported a quarterly EPS of $1.26, matching the consensus estimate, while the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.59, reflecting a yield of 1.8%.

Raymond James Financial Inc. decreased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,496,356 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 118,142 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.32% of Abbott Laboratories worth $729,092,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,774 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 16,925 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,914,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. Arvest Bank Trust Division acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. Finally, Capital International Sarl increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 272,580 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $30,832,000 after purchasing an additional 16,161 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. BTIG Research decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $148.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total value of $746,752.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,862,453.65. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $131.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 1.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $110.33 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $131.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $131.18. The company has a market capitalization of $229.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 32.43%. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th were paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.57%.

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.

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