Renasant Bank Acquires New Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Renasant Bank bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,873 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $212,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. This represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $127.02 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $127.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 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 $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.60, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.69.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.94.

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.