Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Now Covered by Piper Sandler Companies

Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Stock Target Advisor reports. The brokerage issued an overweight rating and a $131.00 price target on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. They set an overweight rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI dropped 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. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a buy rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $123.33.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $113.70 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $197.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $110.50 and a 200-day moving average of $108.45.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share 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 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 68.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total transaction of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. 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.