Bank of Montreal Can Boosts Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,291,053 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,561 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $370,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at about $2,160,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 454,334 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $51,640,000 after acquiring an additional 12,847 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,506,000. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,543 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Icon Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 28.1% during the first quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 55,031 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $6,255,000 after purchasing an additional 12,068 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.07.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.3 %

Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.36 during trading on Monday, reaching $118.12. 356,090 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,672,300. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.94. The company has a market capitalization of $204.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

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.