Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives Overweight Rating from Barclays

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at Barclays in a research report issued on Monday, Stock Target Advisor reports. They currently have a $158.00 target price on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 26.28% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $125.12 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $217.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $125.67. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $115.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.46.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11,029,400 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.