Texas Bank & Trust Co Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Texas Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 18,385 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,080,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $945,453,000 after buying an additional 6,628,310 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $635,056,000. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,688,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 22,056,860 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,494,851,000 after acquiring an additional 2,060,650 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,278 shares of company stock worth $12,745,859 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $134.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $234.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $129.36 and its 200-day moving average is $124.10. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $141.23.

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

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

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.