Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. Has $4.01 Million Stock Position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 35,466 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 2,266 shares during the quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $4,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 24,221 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,740,000 after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 61.1% during the fourth quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,629 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,881,000 after buying an additional 6,305 shares during the last quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $203,000. Absher Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Absher Wealth Management LLC now owns 177,122 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $20,034,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390 shares during the period. Finally, Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,933 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,463,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $132.07 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $116.80 and its 200-day moving average is $114.71. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $132.50. 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 stock has a market cap of $229.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.59 dividend. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.79%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

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.