Cornerstone Planning Group LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Cornerstone Planning Group LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,365 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ABT shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $129.11 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $117.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $115.18. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $223.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $132.50.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.