Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and nine have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $117.47.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ABT. UBS Group dropped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $118.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 19th. TheStreet downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, October 16th. Barclays lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $116.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 19th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.7 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $101.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $175.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.42, a PEG ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.86. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $115.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $10.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.82 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.15% and a net margin of 12.92%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.15 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 13th were issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 12th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.39%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, Director Daniel J. Starks sold 50,000 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $94.05, for a total value of $4,702,500.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,725,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $632,515,969.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 9.8% during the second quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 1,415,759 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $154,346,000 after acquiring an additional 126,547 shares during the last quarter. Core Alternative Capital grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.0% during the second quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 1,290 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 315.5% during the first quarter. Fort Sheridan Advisors LLC now owns 12,182 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,234,000 after buying an additional 9,250 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% during the first quarter. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC now owns 99,836 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $10,109,000 after buying an additional 11,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbour Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the first quarter. Harbour Investment Management LLC now owns 26,750 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,709,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. 73.70% of the stock is 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 Established Pharmaceutical Products segment 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.