Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $124.33.

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Piper Sandler started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,222,332,000 after buying an additional 701,740 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $16,764,000. Garde Capital Inc. increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 894,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $98,490,000 after purchasing an additional 8,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BDF Gestion purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $7,651,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $112.64 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $112.37 and a 200-day moving average of $108.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market capitalization of $195.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.