Maple Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Maple Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 169,736 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 1.5% of Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $19,352,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $116.66 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The company has a market cap of $202.95 billion, a PE ratio of 36.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $114.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.52. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $91.64 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.67.

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.