Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

ABT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $128.75 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $223.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $129.85. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.90. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.