Whittier Trust Co. Boosts Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 385,643 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 3,130 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $43,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew 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 buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Four investment 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $127.64 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The firm has a market cap of $221.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $127.98 and a 200-day moving average of $119.73.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 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.