A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 775 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,775 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 775 shares during the period. Abbott Laboratories comprises approximately 2.3% of A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. A. D. Beadell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABT. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 488,764 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,942,709,000 after purchasing an additional 280,441 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake 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 valued at $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,265,762,000 after purchasing an additional 585,915 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT traded down $1.68 on Friday, reaching $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 cap of $195.25 billion, a PE ratio of 34.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, research 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.