Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Oakworth Capital Inc.

Oakworth Capital Inc. decreased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,881 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 478 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 2.3 %

ABT opened at $132.07 on Thursday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $117.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $132.50.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.79%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

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.