Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Purchased by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,451,305 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,639,954 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,916,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,850,000 after buying an additional 4,755 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,274,000 after buying an additional 2,774 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 99.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,896 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,006,000 after buying an additional 4,437 shares during the last quarter. Choate Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 206,650 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $23,374,000 after buying an additional 28,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, one8zero8 LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $1,405,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, June 16th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.11.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.2%

ABT stock opened at $131.95 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $229.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $133.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.17. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.61%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.