Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Purchases 1,774 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,782 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 1,774 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Aigen Investment Management LP lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 120.6% during the third quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 6,321 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $612,000 after buying an additional 3,455 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 23,846 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,310,000 after purchasing an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 2,137,574 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $207,024,000 after purchasing an additional 183,803 shares during the last quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 30.2% during the 3rd quarter. Provence Wealth Management Group now owns 2,726 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Institutional & Family Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Institutional & Family Asset Management LLC now owns 40,980 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,969,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Barclays reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $103.65. 382,682 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,600,730. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $180.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.10.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 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.