CENTRAL TRUST Co Cuts Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 146,116 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 3,822 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $19,382,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cim LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Cim LLC now owns 16,967 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,919,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 1,236 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Capital Square LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Square LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Consilium Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 3,822 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $507,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 954 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company's 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 sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $142.61.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $132.35. 4,950,337 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,109,757. The company has a market cap of $230.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $132.07 and a 200-day moving average of $126.76. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share 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, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. 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.