LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI Has $3.56 Million Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI trimmed its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 31,479 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,705 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,561,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bath Savings Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,791,000 after acquiring an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 5,664 shares during the last quarter. Dundas Partners LLP raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the second quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $34,313,000 after buying an additional 6,897 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $22,091,000 after buying an additional 31,720 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $2,828,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of ABT stock traded down $1.63 on Friday, hitting $112.62. The stock had a trading volume of 2,193,502 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,308,994. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The stock has a market cap of $195.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day moving average of $115.45 and a 200 day moving average of $112.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 71.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target 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. Finally, Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Four research 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.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.