Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Acquired by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 20.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,257 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,880 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $3,721,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ABT. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,850,000 after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,768 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $648,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the second quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 23,890 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,249,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Lewis Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 500.8% in the second quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 15,968 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after purchasing an additional 13,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sweeney & Michel LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $212,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $147.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $147.42.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $121.82 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $128.83. The company has a market cap of $211.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27, a PEG ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $113.39 and a one year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.58%.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products and services. Founded in 1888, Abbott operates through multiple business areas that focus on diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and established pharmaceuticals. The company supplies hospitals, clinics, laboratories, retailers and direct-to-consumer channels with products intended to diagnose, treat and manage a wide range of health conditions.

In diagnostics, Abbott provides laboratory and point-of-care testing platforms and assays used to detect infectious diseases, chronic conditions and biomarkers; its Alinity family of instruments and rapid-test solutions are examples of this capability.