Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,516 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 765 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $20,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.3% during the third quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 363 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. StockNews.com upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $129.11 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $132.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74. 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 $117.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $115.10.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.