Brokerages Set Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target at $142.59

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, fourteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $142.59.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ABT shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $145.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $135.41 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $131.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.47. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Elequin Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. 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.