A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,775 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 775 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 2.3% of A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $8,746,896,000 after acquiring an additional 2,323,807 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,963,974,000 after buying an additional 488,764 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,942,709,000 after buying an additional 280,441 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% in the third 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 buying an additional 2,711,586 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,265,762,000 after acquiring an additional 585,915 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ABT. UBS Group raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.5 %

ABT traded down $1.68 during trading on Friday, hitting $112.57. 1,182,751 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,143,215. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.22, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.39. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. Analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.73%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.