Abbott Laboratories $ABT Shares Bought by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

by · The Markets Daily

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Free Report) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,096,907 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 821,325 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $2,022,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Carr Financial Group Corp boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% during the third quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 3,880 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $520,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.7% during the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 795 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $108,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Gemmer Asset Management LLC now owns 2,750 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 14,018 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the second quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 12,555 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 1.4%

ABT opened at $121.82 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $126.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $128.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.83 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $113.39 and a one year high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The business had revenue of $11.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $147.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $145.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.42.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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