Abbott Laboratories (ABT) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $0.59 on February 14th

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 13th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of 0.59 per share by the healthcare product maker on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55.

Abbott Laboratories has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 53 consecutive years. Abbott Laboratories has a payout ratio of 42.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Abbott Laboratories to earn $5.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.8%.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.4 %

ABT opened at $113.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $196.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $116.27 and its 200 day moving average is $111.19. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.14 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.71.

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.