BDF Gestion Raises Stake in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

BDF Gestion increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 10.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,861 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,100 shares during the quarter. Abbott Laboratories accounts for 1.0% of BDF Gestion’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. BDF Gestion’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $8,687,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Carr Financial Group Corp lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Carr Financial Group Corp now owns 3,880 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $520,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Tortoise Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 795 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. FF Advisors LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 4.3% during the second quarter. FF Advisors LLC now owns 1,904 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Trust Co now owns 14,018 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,907,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Daiwa Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $159.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.00.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $125.45 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $110.86 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $130.27. The company has a market capitalization of $218.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.28 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 (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.30. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The firm had revenue of $11.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.180 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.57%.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

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.