Sawyer & Company Inc Lowers Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Sawyer & Company Inc cut its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 30.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 16,949 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 7,524 shares during the period. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,917,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,963,974,000 after acquiring an additional 488,764 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,942,709,000 after acquiring an additional 280,441 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,518,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,265,762,000 after purchasing an additional 585,915 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ABT. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $110.96 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $115.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.67. 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. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm 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%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. This is a boost 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.