BMO Capital Markets Upgrades Abbott Laboratories (ABT) to Outperform

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) was upgraded by BMO Capital Markets from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $65.00 price target on the healthcare product maker’s stock, up from their previous price target of $58.00. BMO Capital Markets’ price target points to a potential upside of 17.12% from the company’s current price.

ABT has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 28th. J P Morgan Chase & Co initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Friday, October 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, October 19th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $57.56.

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) traded up $0.77 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $55.50. The company had a trading volume of 13,287,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,531,961. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 2.69 and a quick ratio of 2.26. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $37.90 and a 1 year high of $56.69. The firm has a market cap of $96,603.35, a P/E ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.08 and a beta of 1.06.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 13.98% and a net margin of 8.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.72 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.8% compared to the same quarter last year. equities research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

In other news, insider Brian J. Blaser sold 23,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.55, for a total transaction of $1,325,756.30. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 146,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,131,797.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Alejandro D. Wellisch sold 2,153 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.86, for a total transaction of $120,266.58. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $572,900.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 616,332 shares of company stock valued at $33,579,226 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.76% of the company’s stock.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanders Morris Harris LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sanders Morris Harris LLC now owns 4,986 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. St. Louis Trust Co boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. St. Louis Trust Co now owns 4,904 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Lakeview Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Lakeview Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,691 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Johanson Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Johanson Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 7,017 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Country Club Trust Company n.a. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Country Club Trust Company n.a. now owns 7,320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. 71.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of a range of healthcare products. The Company operates through four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products and Vascular Products. Its Established Pharmaceutical Products include a range of branded generic pharmaceuticals manufactured around the world and marketed and sold outside the United States.

Analyst Recommendations for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)