Decker Retirement Planning Inc. Buys New Shares in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 20,111 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $2,275,000. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 1.3% of Decker Retirement Planning Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group lifted 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, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $113.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.47 billion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $115.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.65. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.