The Goldman Sachs Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its target price hoisted by equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group from $138.00 to $154.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock. The Goldman Sachs Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.66% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up previously from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. StockNews.com downgraded 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 reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.13.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $140.43 on Tuesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $123.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.10. The firm has a market cap of $243.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.35, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.75.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Hedge funds and other 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.