Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC Invests $236,000 in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,089 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $236,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Scientech Research LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.8% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 21,772 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,262,000 after buying an additional 2,639 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $314,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 170,850 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $17,753,000 after acquiring an additional 8,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,207,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded down $2.15 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $127.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,948,521 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,317,801. The company has a market cap of $220.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $129.85. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $115.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a boost from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

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.