Eastern Bank Acquires 5,294 Shares of Abbott Laboratories $ABT

Eastern Bank grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 1.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 327,763 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,294 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $43,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. IMG Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 759.1% in the second quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 189 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the period. Anfield Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 81.3% in the 2nd quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC now owns 232 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Curio Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 15,250.0% during the second quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 307 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 34.6% during the second quarter. Pineridge Advisors LLC now owns 315 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE:ABT opened at $124.30 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $110.86 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $126.12 and a 200 day moving average of $129.17. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $216.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30. The business had revenue of $11.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 31.88%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 15th will be paid a $0.63 dividend. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. This represents a $2.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 29.57%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, December 29th. William Blair raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $162.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $147.68.

Abbott Laboratories 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.