Sawyer & Company Inc Lowers Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sawyer & Company Inc lessened its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 30.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 16,949 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after selling 7,524 shares during the quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,917,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 2.5 %

NYSE:ABT traded up $2.75 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $113.85. The company had a trading volume of 5,595,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,940,967. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $115.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.65. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $197.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.