OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Makes New Investment in Abbott Laboratories $ABT

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 5,759 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock, valued at approximately $771,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. IMG Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 759.1% in the 2nd quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 189 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Anfield Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 81.3% during 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 purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth $32,000. Curio Wealth LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 15,250.0% in the second quarter. Curio Wealth LLC now owns 307 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC raised 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 valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $123.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $126.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $129.10. The company has a market cap of $214.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $111.02 and a 12 month high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced 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 return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 31.88%.The company had revenue of $11.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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 issued 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 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $150.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $157.00 to $152.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 9th. William Blair raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $147.42.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.