Ritholtz Wealth Management Purchases 2,533 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 44,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,533 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,025,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 197,549 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $22,345,000 after purchasing an additional 3,551 shares during the last quarter. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $200,000. StrongBox Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 174.3% during the 4th quarter. StrongBox Wealth LLC now owns 16,840 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,905,000 after buying an additional 10,701 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.3% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Family Offices LLP now owns 7,628 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $863,000 after buying an additional 1,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Essex Savings Bank grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 11.4% during the 4th quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 6,382 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $722,000 after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $113.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $197.47 billion, a PE ratio of 34.60, a P/E/G 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 has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $115.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.65.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Abbott Laboratories’s 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.