Abbott Laboratories’ (ABT) “Outperform” Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their outperform rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $135.00 price objective on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on ABT. Barclays boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.50.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $123.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.62 billion, a PE ratio of 37.44, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $114.91 and its 200 day moving average is $113.08. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $123.23. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11,029,400 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.92%. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.85%.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, JDM Financial Group LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 51.3% during the 3rd quarter. JDM Financial Group LLC now owns 363 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.