Verity & Verity LLC Boosts Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Verity & Verity LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 18.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,727 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after purchasing an additional 9,332 shares during the period. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $6,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $113.45. The stock had a trading volume of 6,443,213 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,199,178. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $196.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $114.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share 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. Shareholders 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 an increase from Abbott Laboratories's previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 66.87%.

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.