Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Acquires 22,071 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 10.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 238,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,071 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $31,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $137.46 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market capitalization of $239.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $132.69 and a 200 day moving average of $127.30. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.