Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA Purchases 250 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,179 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $570,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $110.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day moving average is $114.98 and its 200 day moving average is $106.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The company had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ABT. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.14.

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.