Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $136.99 and last traded at $136.12, with a volume of 460914 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $135.96.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.0 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $235.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $122.13 and its 200-day moving average is $117.43. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. This represents a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Landaas & Co. WI ADV grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Landaas & Co. WI ADV now owns 3,798 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 7,442 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $454,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $108,000. Finally, Lakeshore Capital Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $771,000. 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.