Carnegie Investment Counsel Buys 3,551 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 197,549 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 3,551 shares during the quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $22,345,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $8,746,896,000 after buying an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,963,974,000 after purchasing an additional 488,764 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,942,709,000 after purchasing an additional 280,441 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,265,762,000 after buying an additional 585,915 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.46 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $113.45. 6,443,213 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,077,783. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $115.00 and a 200 day moving average of $112.66. The company 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders 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. 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 payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.57.

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.