3Chopt Investment Partners LLC Invests $735,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

3Chopt Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,544 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $735,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.9% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 245,966 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $31,291,000 after buying an additional 11,419 shares during the last quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.2% during the first quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 2,571 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 237 shares during the last quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 43.4% during the first quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 138,999 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,438,000 after buying an additional 42,090 shares during the last quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 12.0% during the first quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,163 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 8.9% during the first quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd now owns 403,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $53,539,000 after buying an additional 32,875 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $134.40 on Friday. 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 $233.83 billion, a PE ratio of 17.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $132.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.56.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Raymond James Financial boosted 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. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Six 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.61.

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.