Buffington Mohr McNeal Raises Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Buffington Mohr McNeal boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 93,234 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,695 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 1.9% of Buffington Mohr McNeal’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $10,597,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the first quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 102,879 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $10,895,000 after purchasing an additional 3,689 shares during the period. Synergy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 37.2% during the first quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 42,054 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,780,000 after purchasing an additional 11,392 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $583,000. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.7% in the first quarter. O ROURKE & COMPANY Inc now owns 2,304 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.6% in the first quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 8,544 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT remained flat at $103.20 during trading hours on Tuesday. The stock had a trading volume of 3,552,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,681,587. The company’s 50-day moving average is $104.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.53 billion, a PE ratio of 32.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

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.