Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC

MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,026 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 482 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for approximately 0.6% of MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. MPS Loria Financial Planners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $110.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $192.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.73, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $115.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.67.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted 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. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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 dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.73%.

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.