Huntington National Bank Increases Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 444,258 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,204 shares during the quarter. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $50,250,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 53,485 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $6,050,000 after buying an additional 1,031 shares during the period. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $393,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 27,794 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,144,000 after acquiring an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. Scholtz & Company LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Scholtz & Company LLC now owns 47,461 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,368,000 after purchasing an additional 5,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,855,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $77,651.54. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 over the last quarter. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.94.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $131.71 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $228.42 billion, a PE ratio of 17.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.70. The business’s 50 day moving average is $130.74 and its 200-day moving average is $120.61. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

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.