Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives $142.59 Average PT from Analysts

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $142.59.

ABT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Redwood Park Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $27,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $135.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $235.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.47.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.61%.

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.