Howland Capital Management LLC Purchases 11,636 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Howland Capital Management LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 38.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 42,147 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 11,636 shares during the period. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,591,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,850,000 after purchasing an additional 4,755 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position 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 period. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $110,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 49.7% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 6,824 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $772,000 after acquiring an additional 2,267 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,004 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,707,000 after acquiring an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $126.16 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $103.55 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $219.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $130.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Mizuho upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.47.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.