Everence Capital Management Inc. Has $4.98 Million Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 43.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,020 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,380 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $113.87. 1,307,290 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,374,558. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $197.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $115.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.08. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.57.

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.