Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by German American Bancorp Inc.

German American Bancorp Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 84,420 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 6,352 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 1.0% of German American Bancorp Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. German American Bancorp Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $9,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 176.3% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 1,014 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 647 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.2% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 40,618 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,617,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1,143.3% during the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 17,418 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,980,000 after purchasing an additional 16,017 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at $297,000. Finally, Alpine Global Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth $2,061,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $115.93 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.24, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $115.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.74. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 66.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of 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 lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Edward Jones cut Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.07.

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.