International Assets Investment Management LLC Sells 1,665,084 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

International Assets Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 99.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,721 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 1,665,084 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 5,737 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $596,000 after acquiring an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $116,000. Prudential PLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 11.8% in the second quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 26,844 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,789,000 after purchasing an additional 2,830 shares during the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 54.5% during the 2nd quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 5,916 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 2,088 shares during the period. Finally, Andra AP fonden increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 86,508 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $8,989,000 after buying an additional 11,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. Mizuho upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded up $0.78 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $114.18. The company had a trading volume of 4,455,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,755,701. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.38. 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 has a market capitalization of $198.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.71, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories's quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.73%.

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.