BankPlus Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

BankPlus Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,245 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $819,000. Abbott Laboratories accounts for about 0.6% of BankPlus Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ABT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings 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 worth $1,518,539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in 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 valued at $8,746,896,000 after buying an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $191,515,000 after acquiring an additional 1,667,170 shares in the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 47.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 3,749,502 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $427,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,764,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,144,818,000 after acquiring an additional 1,180,040 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. UBS Group boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $129.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $115.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.46. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $129.76. 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 capitalization of $224.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11,029,400 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 EPS 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 dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.85%.

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.