Raymond James Trust N.A. Grows Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 209,265 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,574 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $21,745,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,115,836,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,788,216,000 after acquiring an additional 8,834,840 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $9,530,825,000 after acquiring an additional 7,527,778 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after acquiring an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 12,577.8% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,772,670 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $415,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,742,912 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ABT. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.80.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $112.69. The stock had a trading volume of 4,511,637 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,979,149. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $106.15 and its 200-day moving average is $108.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.95%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

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.