Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Trust Co. of Vermont

Trust Co. of Vermont cut its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 199,281 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 9,600 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 1.1% of Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $22,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bath Savings Trust Co increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,791,000 after acquiring an additional 5,881 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,828,000. Dundas Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $34,313,000 after acquiring an additional 6,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,091,000 after buying an additional 31,720 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $113.45. 6,443,213 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,199,178. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.66. The company has a market capitalization of $196.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

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.