GFG Capital LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

GFG Capital LLC reduced its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 211 shares during the period. GFG Capital LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Insight Folios Inc grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Sfmg LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the third quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. River Street Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. River Street Advisors LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $834,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $359,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% in the third quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $126,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.0 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $131.83 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $118.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.71. The company has a market cap of $228.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $132.50. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com lowered Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

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.