Motco Has $187,000 Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Motco increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 15.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,408 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. Motco’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised 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 valued at $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the fourth 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 period. RiverFront Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 11,974 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,354,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,893,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 34,058 shares in the company, 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 is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of ABT stock opened at $126.53 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.92 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.98. The company has a market capitalization of $220.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86, a PEG ratio of 2.40 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.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The company had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.57%.

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.