MBE Wealth Management LLC Sells 727 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

MBE Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,399 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after selling 727 shares during the quarter. MBE Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third 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 bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $129.51 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $115.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.46. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $129.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

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 $11,029,400 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. 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 1.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on ABT shares. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

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.