MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB Sells 3,245 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB decreased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 64,054 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 3,245 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.0% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,323 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $3,670,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.4% during the second quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 54,359 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $5,648,000 after acquiring an additional 6,859 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 479,241 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $49,799,000 after purchasing an additional 20,480 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,900,249 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $197,455,000 after purchasing an additional 127,133 shares during the period. Finally, Prospector Partners LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 179,195 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $18,620,000 after purchasing an additional 4,970 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.4 %

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $113.45. The stock had a trading volume of 6,443,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,199,178. The company has a market capitalization of $196.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $114.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.87.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.87%.

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.