Cetera Advisors LLC Raises Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Cetera Advisors LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 110.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,586 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 84,395 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $18,252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.00.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.1 %

ABT stock traded up $1.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $111.31. 9,885,690 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,385,752. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $193.67 billion, a PE ratio of 34.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by 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.