Vivid Wealth Management LLC Invests $2.59 Million in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Vivid Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 19,518 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $2,589,000. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 1.3% of Vivid Wealth Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. WD Rutherford LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $215,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 41,021 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $5,441,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 58,975 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $7,823,000 after buying an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 26,890 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,567,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Signature Wealth Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the first quarter. Signature Wealth Management Group now owns 2,338 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ABT. Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.61.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business'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 directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1%

Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $132.35. 4,950,337 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,109,754. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $131.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $126.62. The company has a market capitalization of $230.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. 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 has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.59 per share. 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 presently 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.