5,774 Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Purchased by HTLF Bank

HTLF Bank purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,774 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $636,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 21,419 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,074,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 47,080 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,182,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317 shares during the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 91,868 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,343 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,106 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 257,508 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $28,344,000 after acquiring an additional 11,508 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.9 %

ABT stock opened at $107.29 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $114.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.65. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The firm has a market cap of $186.17 billion, a PE ratio of 33.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 over the last three months. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company 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.