Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE Takes $5.35 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Smithbridge Asset Management Inc. DE purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 40,314 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $5,348,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $200,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $9,325,000 after acquiring an additional 15,692 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,120,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $316,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $1.04 on Friday, hitting $135.41. The company had a trading volume of 3,927,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,098,052. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $131.26 and a 200-day moving average of $126.25. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $235.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 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 that occurred 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 directly owns 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

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.