Sabal Trust CO Boosts Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sabal Trust CO increased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,303 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 268 shares during the period. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $14,060,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.2% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 539,312 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $61,487,000 after acquiring an additional 40,715 shares in the last quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.7% during the third quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 3,299 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $378,000 after acquiring an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 28.6% during the third quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 8,574 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 1,908 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 97,031 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $11,308,000 after purchasing an additional 5,589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.0% during the third quarter. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 6,389 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $136.03 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $235.94 billion, a PE ratio of 17.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $136.59. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $121.65 and a 200-day moving average of $117.30.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. UBS Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

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.