Analysts Set Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) PT at $133.06

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $133.06.

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.7 %

ABT stock opened at $130.48 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $132.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $118.05 and its 200-day moving average is $115.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.31 billion, a PE ratio of 17.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. This trade represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.4% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 42,762 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,875,000 after buying an additional 991 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at $31,000. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 7.7% during the third quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 5,671 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 6.6% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,639 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,546,000 after buying an additional 846 shares during the period. Finally, Patten Group Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.7% during the third quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 7,741 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $883,000 after buying an additional 419 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Company 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.