M&T Bank Corp Purchases 9,574 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 978,067 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after buying an additional 9,574 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp owned about 0.06% of Abbott Laboratories worth $110,629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,282 shares of company stock valued at $3,263,348. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.19.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $137.68. The company had a trading volume of 8,155,906 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,485,037. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $124.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $118.42. The company has a market capitalization of $238.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Abbott Laboratories's revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.71%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

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.