Grassi Investment Management Sells 1,523 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Grassi Investment Management lowered its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 123,054 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 1,523 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories makes up about 1.2% of Grassi Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Grassi Investment Management’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $13,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Fulcrum Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC now owns 44,659 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,051,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 4,680 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 19,214 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,158,000 after buying an additional 5,575 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 82,643 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,348,000 after acquiring an additional 1,104 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,600 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,443,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on ABT. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $112.89. 2,188,805 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,411,003. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.80 billion, a PE ratio of 34.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.54. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

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

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.