Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Ellenbecker Investment Group

Ellenbecker Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,202 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the period. Ellenbecker Investment Group’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $589,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 118,828 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $12,347,000 after buying an additional 4,166 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,194,000. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC now owns 198,237 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $20,599,000 after purchasing an additional 874 shares during the period. Bruce & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bruce & Co. Inc. now owns 152,300 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $15,825,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $771,940,000 after buying an additional 1,596,835 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $113.12 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $115.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.60. The stock has a market cap of $196.20 billion, a PE ratio of 34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.