Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Position Decreased by Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC

Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC cut its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 51.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 2,879 shares during the quarter. Wealth Advisory Solutions LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $945,453,000 after acquiring an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 5,069,771 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $7,688,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229,026 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,494,851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,060,650 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of ABT stock traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $133.41. The company had a trading volume of 4,613,653 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,162,455. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a market capitalization of $232.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $133.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.69.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on 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, Leerink Partners started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 target price on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $143.11.

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.