Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC Buys New Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 4,164 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $471,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd 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. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $112.97 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week 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 $195.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $115.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.67.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 71.73%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.