Segment Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Segment Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 65.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,306 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,897 shares during the quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Six equities 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.61.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 transaction, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $132.88 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $231.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.88.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.61%.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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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