20,454 Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Purchased by BankPlus Trust Department

BankPlus Trust Department purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 20,454 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,314,000. Abbott Laboratories makes up 0.8% of BankPlus Trust Department’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 23.4% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 184,961 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $19,990,000 after acquiring an additional 35,127 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 31.6% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 15,651 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 3,761 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 99.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 2,765 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 1,382 shares during the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $281,000. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 27,866 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,177,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $135.04 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $234.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.75. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $120.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.93. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $135.41.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.