Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC

Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 187,998 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 3,295 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 3.0% of Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Inspirion Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $21,319,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ABT. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $200,000. StrongBox Wealth LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 174.3% in the 4th quarter. StrongBox Wealth LLC now owns 16,840 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,905,000 after purchasing an additional 10,701 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 7,628 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 6,382 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, USA Financial Formulas purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $436,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on ABT shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho upped 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. Finally, Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $113.85 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $197.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.60, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $115.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $112.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly 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. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.