Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC Has $347,000 Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,612 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the quarter. Lakeridge Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $945,453,000 after buying an additional 6,628,310 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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 buying an additional 5,069,771 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors increased 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 buying an additional 2,229,026 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ABT shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $135.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $235.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $131.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.37. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.61%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is 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.