Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Grows Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,299 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,379 shares during the quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,788,216,000 after purchasing an additional 8,834,840 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after buying an additional 5,882,780 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $341,777,000. Sessa Capital IM L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $264,876,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 493.1% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,401,190 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $249,508,000 after buying an additional 1,996,320 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.33.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $113.64 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $112.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.19. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $197.69 billion, a PE ratio of 35.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

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.