Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 11,189 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 51.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,608 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 11,189 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $1,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 363 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $127.28 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $115.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.64. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $129.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.76 billion, a PE ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ABT shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

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.