Southland Equity Partners LLC Buys 794 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Southland Equity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,726 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $874,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $123.17 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $123.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $114.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.08.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11,029,400 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.50.

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.