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

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $120.70.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ABT shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ABT opened at $105.24 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.26. The firm has a market cap of $183.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total transaction of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.