New Hampshire Trust Decreases Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

New Hampshire Trust reduced its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing 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 quarter. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 24,745 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,799,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $9,325,000 after purchasing an additional 15,692 shares during the last quarter. Zhang Financial LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 33.6% in the 4th quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 4,674 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 47.7% during the 4th quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 12,981 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,468,000 after purchasing an additional 4,193 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of several research reports. 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 note on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $113.45 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $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 fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $196.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

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

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.