Stableford Capital II LLC Sells 2,191 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Stableford Capital II LLC trimmed its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 14.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,066 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 2,191 shares during the quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,711,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $200,000. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $9,325,000 after purchasing an additional 15,692 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,120,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 28,683 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,244,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of ABT opened at $132.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $132.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $126.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.78 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related 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 transaction of $337,116.00. Following the sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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