First Interstate Bank Has $3 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

First Interstate Bank reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,268 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 932 shares during the quarter. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,320,866,000 after buying an additional 30,218,560 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $1,893,715,000. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,278,132,000 after buying an additional 4,886,954 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 83.1% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,925,012 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $582,924,000 after buying an additional 2,235,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 99.8% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,140,866 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $371,753,000 after buying an additional 1,568,700 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT traded up $0.31 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $109.20. 7,279,806 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,590,588. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $189.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $114.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.51.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $128.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.14.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.