Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by First Bank & Trust

First Bank & Trust trimmed its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,296 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $373,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Advyzon Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $335,000. Wealth Alliance boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 13,119 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,161 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Jacobson & Schmitt Advisors LLC now owns 2,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corps Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $588,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories 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 owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE ABT opened at $133.21 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $133.28. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $120.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $231.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

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.