Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Shares Bought by Atomi Financial Group Inc.

Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 20.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,846 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,397 shares during the quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $113.45 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.95. The stock has a market cap of $196.78 billion, a PE ratio of 34.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.73.

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 paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 71.73%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.