Texas Bank & Trust Co Acquires Shares of 18,385 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Texas Bank & Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 18,385 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,080,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,873 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $551,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $200,000. Fermata Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 17.0% in the fourth quarter. Fermata Advisors LLC now owns 2,915 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Capital & Planning LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 8,673 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $981,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Chemistry Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $267,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock valued at $12,745,859. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of ABT opened at $134.79 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $234.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $129.36 and a 200-day moving average of $124.10.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.61%.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.