Websterrogers Financial Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 2,287 Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Websterrogers Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,287 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Insight Folios Inc boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Sfmg LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the third quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the third quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 21,821 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,488,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Raymond James restated a "buy" rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $2.75 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $113.85. 5,595,969 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,940,967. The stock has a market cap of $197.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The stock's fifty day moving average is $115.02 and its 200-day moving average is $112.65. 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 issued 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 analysts' expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

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