Mutual Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Mutual Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,222 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,009 shares during the quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,417,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 848.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 216,337 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $22,480,000 after purchasing an additional 193,537 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 871,196 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $90,421,000 after buying an additional 38,676 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,103,997,000 after buying an additional 508,524 shares in the last quarter. Dundas Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $34,313,000 after acquiring an additional 6,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. DSM Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,131 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 4.6 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $123.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $213.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $123.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.08. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11,029,400 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given 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 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective 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, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.50.

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.