Raymond James & Associates Acquires 91,118 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,153,909 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 91,118 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned about 0.18% of Abbott Laboratories worth $358,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 65.3% in the third quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 762 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 147.0% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 31,159 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,018,000 after buying an additional 18,546 shares during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.6% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 8,235 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $798,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% during the third quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,575 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 562 shares during the period. Finally, SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,805,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded up $0.67 during trading on Friday, reaching $107.53. 3,575,566 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,219,304. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.58 billion, a PE ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $113.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.11.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm's revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Raymond James reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $121.50.

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.