Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Given Buy Rating at Raymond James

Raymond James reissued their buy rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Stock Target Advisor reports. The firm currently has a $124.00 target price on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

ABT has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $106.89 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $113.90 and its 200 day moving average is $107.97. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $185.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.74.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Norges Bank bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth about $2,115,836,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 86,588,614 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $9,530,825,000 after acquiring an additional 7,527,778 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 12,577.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,772,670 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $415,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,742,912 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,009,838 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $551,434,000 after acquiring an additional 1,477,671 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 64,294,784 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,077,148,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457,847 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently 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.