JGP Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

JGP Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 92,423 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,384 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up approximately 1.4% of JGP Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. JGP Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $10,454,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 44,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,025,000 after purchasing an additional 2,533 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 197,549 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $22,345,000 after buying an additional 3,551 shares in the last quarter. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $200,000. StrongBox Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 174.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Family Offices LLP grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Four 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $113.85 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The business has a 50-day moving average of $115.02 and a 200-day moving average of $112.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization 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 (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. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.