Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Buys 1,104 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 82,643 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $9,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.4% in the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 19,922 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,070,000 after acquiring an additional 1,882 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.6% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 118,828 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $12,347,000 after acquiring an additional 4,166 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.5% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 23,702 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,010 shares during the period. Williams Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $442,000. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $1,961,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $112.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,640,948 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,350,071. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $115.33 and a 200-day moving average of $112.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The company has a market capitalization of $195.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.57.

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.