Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $130.71.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ABT shares. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $114.76 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.69. The company has a market capitalization of $199.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.88, 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. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $121.64.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 71.73%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ABT. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.