First American Trust FSB Trims Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

First American Trust FSB cut its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 111,425 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 833 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for approximately 1.3% of First American Trust FSB’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest position. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $12,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 3,475 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 66.4% in the 4th quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 1,406 shares during the period. CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $242,000. Hirtle Callaghan & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $289,000. Finally, Dillon & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 213,021 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $24,071,000 after purchasing an additional 2,674 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $127.31 on Tuesday. 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 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $128.79 and a 200-day moving average of $120.04. The company has a market capitalization of $220.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ABT. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories 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.