Jeppson Wealth Management LLC Sells 120 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Jeppson Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,713 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 120 shares during the period. Jeppson Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Hutchens & Kramer Investment Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $236,000. Curbstone Financial Management Corp grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 25,100 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,839,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 53,213 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $6,019,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. BankPlus Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $819,000. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 22,780 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,577,000 after purchasing an additional 6,757 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of ABT opened at $129.51 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $129.76. The firm has a market cap of $224.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $115.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11,029,400 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.