Analysts Set Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) PT at $121.50

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $121.50.

ABT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays cut their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,787 shares of company stock worth $4,098,073. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. TIAA Trust National Association bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $13,721,000. Brady Family Wealth LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Brady Family Wealth LLC now owns 61,734 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $5,979,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 9,013,790 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $872,986,000 after purchasing an additional 741,441 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 123,286 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $11,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,366 shares during the period. Finally, Northwest Bancshares Inc. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Northwest Bancshares Inc. now owns 8,271 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $104.74 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $111.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.86. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. 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.