2,548 Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Bought by Orca Wealth Management LLC

Orca Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,548 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $288,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $127.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $129.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 earnings per share 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 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 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.85%.

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.