Sawyer & Company Inc Has $2 Million Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sawyer & Company Inc cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 11.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,055 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 1,894 shares during the quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Three Seasons Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $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 Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,095,443 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $133,691,000 after buying an additional 57,499 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its stake 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 worth $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of ABT stock opened at $132.88 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $231.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, 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 quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $132.19 and a 200-day moving average of $126.88.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 30.61%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Six research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $142.61.

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.

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