Busey Bank Has $10.41 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Busey Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 91,991 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,068 shares during the period. Busey Bank’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $10,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $127.86 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $115.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.80. The company has a market capitalization of $221.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.71, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $129.85.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. 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. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

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.