Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $130.07.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $117.76 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $115.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.94. The company has a market capitalization of $204.25 billion, a PE ratio of 35.79, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. Analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 66.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The trade was a 39.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fulcrum Equity Management bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at $239,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 54,237 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $6,184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,509 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at about $302,000. Old West Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 21.2% during the third quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC now owns 22,997 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,622,000 after purchasing an additional 4,021 shares during the period. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $278,000. 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.