Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 501,200 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 49.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,507,268 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 501,200 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned 0.09% of Abbott Laboratories worth $199,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% in 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 buying an additional 2,060,650 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $133.64 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $232.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $133.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.86. 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) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current 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 paid 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 (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price 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 lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Six equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.11.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 can be accessed through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.