Heartland Bank & Trust Co Takes Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 4,990 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $569,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

ABT stock opened at $116.99 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $91.64 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $203.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $114.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.88%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.