Piper Sandler Reiterates “Overweight” Rating for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Piper Sandler reiterated their overweight rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in a research note published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a $145.00 price target on the healthcare product maker’s stock, up from their previous price target of $133.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $131.00 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $130.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.89. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. 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 has a market cap of $227.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. On average, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 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.