Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 36.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,991 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,488 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.46 during trading on Friday, reaching $113.45. The company had a trading volume of 6,443,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,199,178. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $121.64. 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $114.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm 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 in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

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.