Community Trust & Investment Co. Invests $373,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Community Trust & Investment Co. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 3,272 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $373,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $116.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $202.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.17, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $91.64 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 68.54%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.67.

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.