Analysts Set Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target at $122.14

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $121.54.

A number of research firms have issued reports on ABT. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $128.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.3 %

ABT stock opened at $109.20 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $189.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The business had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 67.48%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT now owns 25,085 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,761,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Rappaport Reiches Capital Management LLC now owns 12,287 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,352,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 3,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $356,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Avion Wealth grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 19.4% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 591 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wynn Capital LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the first quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.