Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Purchases 7,307 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 62.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,979 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after buying an additional 7,307 shares during the period. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,147,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 118,828 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $12,347,000 after purchasing an additional 4,166 shares during the last quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,477,000. Lmcg Investments LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 22.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC now owns 176,580 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,348,000 after purchasing an additional 32,504 shares during the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 13,927 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 58,419 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $6,070,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $112.97 on Wednesday. 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 $195.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $115.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.67. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ABT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.