First Citizens Financial Corp Has $218,000 Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

First Citizens Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,928 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Financial Corp’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 43.7% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 44,020 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,979,000 after acquiring an additional 13,380 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 17.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 32,877 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,719,000 after purchasing an additional 4,852 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 115.7% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,998 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608 shares during the period. Syntax Research Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth approximately $2,280,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.8% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,710,023 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $194,960,000 after buying an additional 109,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE ABT traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $113.93. 1,425,458 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,462,837. 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 stock has a market cap of $197.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.08. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. 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 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.57.

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.