Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the ten ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $120.18.

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total value of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $102.33 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The stock has a market cap of $178.02 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $104.54 and its 200-day moving average is $110.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.