Signaturefd LLC Has $6.43 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,456 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,994 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $2,159,000. Florida Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.9% during the first quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,622 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.9% during the first quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 5,553 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $737,000 after acquiring an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 21.7% in the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 68,135 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $9,038,000 after purchasing an additional 12,130 shares during the period. Finally, Weatherly Asset Management L. P. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. now owns 24,877 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,300,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 target price on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.33.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $10.99 on Thursday, hitting $120.76. 27,541,366 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,221,910. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $133.17 and a 200-day moving average of $129.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. 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 $210.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories's revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 30.61%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.