International Assets Investment Management LLC Has $1.67 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

International Assets Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 99.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,721 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,665,084 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Bath Savings Trust Co boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,881 shares in the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% during the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares in the last quarter. Dundas Partners LLP grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $34,313,000 after acquiring an additional 6,897 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,091,000 after acquiring an additional 31,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $2,828,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $114.18 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.38. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 71.73%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.57.

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.