Blue Trust Inc. reduced its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 10.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,756 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 3,939 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,931,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP now owns 130,102 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $14,716,000 after buying an additional 2,701 shares during the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 206.5% during the fourth quarter. Campbell Wealth Management now owns 5,468 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $619,000 after buying an additional 3,684 shares during the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $320,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 4,067 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $228,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
A number of research firms recently issued reports on ABT. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $133.06.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on ABT
In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $130.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $226.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.82. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $132.65.
Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.34. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th were given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.
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.
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