Fiduciary Alliance LLC Grows Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 145.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,936 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,632 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,029,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $113.12 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.23 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $196.20 billion, a PE ratio of 34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for 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 13.99%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 71.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in 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 report on Thursday, January 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.