Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) shares hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $132.85 and last traded at $132.92, with a volume of 547305 shares. The stock had previously closed at $132.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ABT. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 price target (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $234.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $120.75 and a 200 day moving average of $116.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

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

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares during the period. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.