Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Sells 1,968 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 6.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,052 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 1,968 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $945,453,000 after buying an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $676,866,000 after buying an additional 5,069,771 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,688,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note 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 note on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Six 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.3%

ABT stock traded up $1.71 on Monday, reaching $136.09. 5,748,216 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,148,248. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $132.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $127.75. The company has a market cap of $236.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23. 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 results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. Research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders 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 1.73%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.