Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $137.94.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 5.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $124.46 on Friday. 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 has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $131.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $120.84.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.03 billion. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. United Bank grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 27,284 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after buying an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,937,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 693,148 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $79,026,000 after purchasing an additional 120,967 shares in the last quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 2,302 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 11.1% in the third quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 4,852 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

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.