First Interstate Bank Sells 932 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

First Interstate Bank decreased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,268 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 932 shares during the quarter. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,320,866,000 after purchasing an additional 30,218,560 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,893,715,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,278,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886,954 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 83.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,925,012 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $582,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,235,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 99.8% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,140,866 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $371,753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,568,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $109.20. The stock had a trading volume of 7,279,806 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,590,588. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $189.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Raymond James raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.14.

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.