Simon Quick Advisors LLC Has $2.27 Million Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 104.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 20,055 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 10,248 shares during the quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,268,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third 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 period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ABT. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price 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, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.93.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 2.9 %

ABT stock opened at $116.78 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $114.87 and a 200-day moving average of $112.95. The company has a market capitalization of $202.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.50, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 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.