Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,086 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Prairie Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $945,453,000 after buying an additional 6,628,310 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s 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 now owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $132.88 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $132.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.03. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $145.00 price target (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.61.

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.