Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,610 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Encompass Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 42,762 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,875,000 after acquiring an additional 991 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $224,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 5,671 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $647,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,639 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after acquiring an additional 846 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $128.20 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $132.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $117.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.76, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.74.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 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 given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

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.