UBS Group Raises Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target to $146.00

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price target lifted by UBS Group from $143.00 to $146.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $119.39 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $91.64 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The firm has a market cap of $207.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $113.97 and a 200-day moving average of $108.50.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.