Sax Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sax Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 5,660 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $640,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ABT traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $113.45. 6,443,213 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,199,178. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.80. 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 (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during 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%. The firm's revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 66.87%.

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.