Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Raises Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 11.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 100,715 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 10,543 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,360,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. SNS Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 12,591 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Brogan Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.3% during the first quarter. Brogan Financial Inc. now owns 3,215 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 21.0% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 19,307 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,529,000 after buying an additional 3,356 shares during the last quarter. St. Louis Trust Co boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 21.7% in the first quarter. St. Louis Trust Co now owns 9,679 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,284,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FLC Capital Advisors boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 20.1% in the first quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 4,783 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 2.7%

ABT stock traded up $3.30 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $123.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,570,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,247,882. 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 has a twelve month low of $99.92 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $132.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.52, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. The business had revenue of $11.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.83%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $143.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Friday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.