Hantz Financial Services Inc. Cuts Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Hantz Financial Services Inc. reduced its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 284,986 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 6,767 shares during the quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $32,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.3% during the third quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 363 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $127.28 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $129.85. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $220.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.85%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

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.