Oakworth Capital Inc. Has $612,000 Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Oakworth Capital Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,560 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 311 shares during the quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $612,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at $28,000. FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 132.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 333 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 over the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $3.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $105.91. 9,368,930 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,637,811. 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 capitalization of $183.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $114.57 and a 200 day moving average of $107.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 67.48%.

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.