LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Acquires 15,692 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 23.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 82,443 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,692 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories makes up 1.3% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $9,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.0% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 35,323 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,670,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 54,359 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,648,000 after buying an additional 6,859 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 479,241 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $49,799,000 after buying an additional 20,480 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,900,249 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $197,455,000 after buying an additional 127,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prospector Partners LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the second quarter. Prospector Partners LLC now owns 179,195 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,620,000 after acquiring an additional 4,970 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ABT. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $113.45 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 66.87%.

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.