Bank of Jackson Hole Trust Buys New Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,039 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $344,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 17.9% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 268,538 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $30,616,000 after purchasing an additional 40,783 shares during the last quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.7% in the third quarter. Koss Olinger Consulting LLC now owns 3,360 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $383,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the third quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 2,503 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $142,000. Finally, Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $206,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.4 %

ABT opened at $130.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $225.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $132.65. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $119.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.42.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th were issued a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.