Brooklyn Investment Group Purchases 4,941 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 41.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,897 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 4,941 shares during the quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,518,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711,586 shares during the period. Sessa Capital IM L.P. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $264,876,000. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $8,746,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,807 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $191,515,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667,170 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,764,061 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,144,818,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded down $0.46 on Friday, hitting $113.45. 6,443,213 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,199,178. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The stock has a market cap of $196.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50 day moving average of $114.93 and a 200 day moving average of $112.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Abbott Laboratories's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target 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.