Boltwood Capital Management Acquires 119 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Boltwood Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 21,940 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the quarter. Boltwood Capital Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,482,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Insight Folios Inc grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 2,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Sfmg LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the third quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 3,153 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Silicon Valley Capital Partners boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 1,108 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $126,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the period. Finally, Atwood & Palmer Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 1,478 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of ABT traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $113.48. The stock had a trading volume of 905,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,932,003. The company has a market capitalization of $196.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 71.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ABT. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.57.

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.