Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH

FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,601 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $520,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 506.9% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 15,987 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,661,000 after acquiring an additional 13,353 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,323 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,670,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 108,990 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $11,325,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154 shares in the last quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the second quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,979 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $517,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clifford Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the second quarter. Clifford Group LLC now owns 5,756 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $598,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $113.45 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $115.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James reaffirmed 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.57.

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.