BankPlus Trust Department Grows Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

BankPlus Trust Department lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 9.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,410 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,956 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises about 1.0% of BankPlus Trust Department's holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. BankPlus Trust Department's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,973,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $5,850,000 after buying an additional 4,755 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 152,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $17,274,000 after purchasing an additional 2,774 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 99.5% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 8,896 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 4,437 shares during the last quarter. Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $511,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 66.6% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 153,021 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $17,308,000 after buying an additional 61,156 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ABT. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $143.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $1.66 on Friday, reaching $131.95. 4,661,224 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,153,605. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.56 billion, a PE ratio of 17.11, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $133.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.78, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 30.61%.

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.