Morton Community Bank Raises Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Morton Community Bank boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,876 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 330 shares during the period. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,266,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Impax Asset Management Group plc grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 557,608 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $63,573,000 after buying an additional 2,754 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 13.4% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 4,103 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,044,000. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 11.4% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 132,020 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $15,052,000 after buying an additional 13,523 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $137.23 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $125.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $118.82. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $238.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.94, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict 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 Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.19.

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.