Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 7,316 Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 17.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,340 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,316 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $113.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $114.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $196.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 66.87%.

Abbott Laboratories 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.