Griffin Asset Management Inc. Sells 98 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 64,937 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $7,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third 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. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 worth $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $129.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $115.26 and a 200 day moving average of $113.46. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $129.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market cap of $224.63 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73.

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, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11,029,400 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. 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. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ABT. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.