MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Decreases Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,054 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,245 shares during the quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $113.45 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $114.93 and a 200 day moving average of $112.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 66.87%.

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.