American National Bank Boosts Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

American National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) by 33.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,952 shares during the period. American National Bank’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norway Savings Bank boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Norway Savings Bank now owns 29,569 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,246,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,350 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,082 shares during the last quarter. Gries Financial LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Gries Financial LLC now owns 14,575 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,600,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $6,726,000. Finally, Woodstock Corp boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 124,015 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $13,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,154 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.93% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $68,375.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,091,998.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $68,375.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,427 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,091,998.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $103,922.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,203 shares in the company, valued at $5,256,842.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,971 shares of company stock valued at $199,140. Company insiders own 0.52% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $97.01 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $106.80 and a 200-day moving average of $104.86. The firm has a market cap of $168.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a P/E/G ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 0.68. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $93.25 and a twelve month high of $124.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $10.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.69 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 15.88% and a return on equity of 26.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.32 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 14th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 13th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 52.17%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on ABT shares. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $109.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 26th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $114.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $110.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.67.

About Abbott Laboratories

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Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products.