First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Has $9.99 Million Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,274 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,615 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $9,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $426,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 20.9% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,329,644 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $138,163,000 after purchasing an additional 230,100 shares in the last quarter. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $384,000. Sepio Capital LP lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.4% in the second quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 211,699 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $21,998,000 after buying an additional 8,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 267.6% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 6,793 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $706,000 after acquiring an additional 4,945 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.50.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $125.12 on Friday. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $115.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $125.67.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11,029,400 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

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.