Capital Market Strategies LLC Acquires 200 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Capital Market Strategies LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 5,985 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Capital Market Strategies LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $677,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $264,876,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,807 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $191,515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,667,170 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $771,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,835 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT traded up $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $113.89. The stock had a trading volume of 1,704,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,213,906. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $115.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.27. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $121.64. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $197.54 billion, a PE ratio of 34.62, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. 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. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 71.73%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.