Baker Boyer National Bank Takes Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Baker Boyer National Bank purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 1,850 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.3 %

ABT stock opened at $119.39 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $113.97 and a 200-day moving average of $108.48. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $91.64 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $207.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.