New Hampshire Trust Sells 319 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

New Hampshire Trust cut its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,327 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 319 shares during the period. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,746,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,963,974,000 after purchasing an additional 488,764 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,942,709,000 after buying an additional 280,441 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,518,539,000 after buying an additional 2,711,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,265,762,000 after acquiring an additional 585,915 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $113.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $196.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $114.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.57.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.