Realta Investment Advisors Makes New $777,000 Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Realta Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 5,859 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $777,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Three Seasons Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of 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 first quarter worth $216,000. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $273,000. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edge Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Edge Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,530 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $336,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $143.11.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director directly owned 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $1.66 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $131.95. 4,661,224 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,153,605. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $133.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $128.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The firm has a market cap of $229.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 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 dividend yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is 30.61%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.