Quotient Wealth Partners LLC Buys 705 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Quotient Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,816 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 705 shares during the quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Forbes J M & Co. LLP raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 135,603 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $15,338,000 after purchasing an additional 415 shares in the last quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 4,982 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 80,095 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $9,060,000 after acquiring an additional 2,028 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.2% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 93,919 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $10,623,000 after purchasing an additional 31,820 shares during the period. Finally, Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Westbourne Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,814 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $884,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

ABT opened at $129.11 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $132.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $223.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $117.46 and its 200 day moving average is $115.18.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.83%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

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.