HBW Advisory Services LLC Lowers Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

HBW Advisory Services LLC reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,120 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 107 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 42,784 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,840,000 after acquiring an additional 1,828 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 29,761 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,366,000 after purchasing an additional 1,907 shares during the period. Range Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $582,000. One Wealth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $860,000. Finally, Bath Savings Trust Co grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,791,000 after buying an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. 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. UBS Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer initiated 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. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $112.34 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $115.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.49. 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 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.73%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.