Maple Capital Management Inc. Buys 447 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Maple Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 169,736 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 1.5% of Maple Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $19,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BDF Gestion acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $7,651,000. Dundas Partners LLP grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $34,313,000 after acquiring an additional 6,897 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at about $5,634,000. Oak Harvest Investment Services grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 32.7% in the first quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 73,651 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,371,000 after acquiring an additional 18,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 40.3% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 49,483 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,624,000 after buying an additional 14,215 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $116.66 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $202.95 billion, a PE ratio of 36.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business has a 50 day moving average of $114.16 and a 200-day moving average of $108.52. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $91.64 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Edward Jones lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.67.

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.