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

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

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.93.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $116.78 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $202.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.50, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $114.87 and a 200 day moving average of $112.95. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in 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 period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in 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 period. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $37,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.