Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Holdings Lifted by Ritholtz Wealth Management

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,427 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 2,533 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bath Savings Trust Co increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $18,791,000 after buying an additional 5,881 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% during the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares in the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $2,828,000. Dundas Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $34,313,000 after purchasing an additional 6,897 shares during the period. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% during the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $22,091,000 after purchasing an additional 31,720 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Raymond James reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Mizuho raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $0.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $113.45. The stock had a trading volume of 6,443,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,077,783. The business has a fifty day moving average of $115.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $112.66. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $196.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. 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 (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. Abbott Laboratories's revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.87%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.