Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. Reduces Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C. lowered its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,270 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 325 shares during the quarter. Fortitude Advisory Group L.L.C.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ABT. Bath Savings Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,791,000 after purchasing an additional 5,881 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% during the third quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,828,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $22,091,000 after purchasing an additional 31,720 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 30.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 107,308 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $12,234,000 after purchasing an additional 25,052 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $129.51 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $129.76. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.46. The firm has a market cap of $224.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11,029,400 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.59 dividend. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.82%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho increased their target price 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. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories 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.