Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives $130.07 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $130.07.

ABT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $118.96 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $206.33 billion, a PE ratio of 36.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $121.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $115.67 and a 200-day moving average of $110.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 39.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,764,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,144,818,000 after buying an additional 1,180,040 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 30.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 107,308 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $12,234,000 after buying an additional 25,052 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 240,821 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,456,000 after buying an additional 3,562 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 32.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 332,189 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $37,873,000 after buying an additional 81,669 shares during the period. Finally, Sfmg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 4,622 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. 75.18% 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 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.