Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC Purchases 2,677 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 42.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,938 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 2,677 shares during the period. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,011,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABT. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased 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 valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT traded down $0.46 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $113.45. 6,443,213 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,199,178. 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $114.93 and its 200 day moving average is $112.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year 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.

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. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. Abbott Laboratories's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost 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 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ABT. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Raymond James reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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.