Fiduciary Financial Group LLC Buys 278 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Fiduciary Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 10.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 278 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $321,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 118,828 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $12,347,000 after purchasing an additional 4,166 shares during the period. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,477,000. Lmcg Investments LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 176,580 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,348,000 after purchasing an additional 32,504 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 13,927 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 58,419 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $6,070,000 after buying an additional 1,237 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $112.97 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.67. The stock has a market cap of $195.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73.

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 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 business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 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.