WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,743 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up 2.7% of WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in 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 last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position 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 and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.4 %

ABT stock opened at $113.45 on Friday. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.73. The company has a market capitalization of $196.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders 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 represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 71.73%.

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.