Morton Community Bank Buys 2,194 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Morton Community Bank increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.4% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 28,321 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,194 shares during the period. Morton Community Bank’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,222,332,000 after purchasing an additional 701,740 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $16,764,000. Garde Capital Inc. lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 93,879 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $10,333,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Finally, Sectoral Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,998 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,595,000 after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $113.86. 3,802,320 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,855,512. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $107.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Edward Jones lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

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.