Albion Financial Group UT Raises Stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Albion Financial Group UT grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 30,579 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 115.9% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 161,505 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $16,782,000 after purchasing an additional 86,707 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 60,703 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $6,308,000 after buying an additional 988 shares during the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth $622,000. Resources Management Corp CT ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% in the second quarter. Resources Management Corp CT ADV now owns 60,727 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $6,310,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the second quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 61,846 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $6,426,000 after purchasing an additional 474 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.93.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $116.78 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $114.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11,029,400 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 71.73%.

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.