Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Sold by Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 33,487 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 149 shares during the quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,788,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 363 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $129.11 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $132.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $223.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $117.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.10.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

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.