Somerset Trust Co Reduces Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Somerset Trust Co lowered its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,603 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 253 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 1.7% of Somerset Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Somerset Trust Co’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,788,216,000 after buying an additional 8,834,840 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 32,236,101 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,548,228,000 after buying an additional 1,027,390 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,103,997,000 after buying an additional 508,524 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 9,922,170 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,092,133,000 after acquiring an additional 228,039 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Oppenheimer began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.15.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $115.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market capitalization of $201.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $112.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.26. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

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.