Brokerages Set Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Target Price at $130.71

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $130.71.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.6 %

ABT stock opened at $114.23 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $99.71 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.13 billion, a PE ratio of 34.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $116.04 and a 200 day moving average of $111.56.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results 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 firm 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 firm’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 71.73%.

About Abbott Laboratories

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.