Nixon Peabody Trust Co. Trims Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. lessened its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 14.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 18,006 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,975 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,053,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 45.3% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 52,270 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,936,000 after acquiring an additional 16,300 shares during the last quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 50.4% during the first quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,580 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 12,944 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the last quarter. Rockport Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at $445,000. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 146,882 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $16,695,000 after buying an additional 32,005 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $116.81. 282,242 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,677,332. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $98.95 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $115.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.