Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Upgraded at Argus

Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on ABT. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $128.75 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $115.94 and a 200-day moving average of $113.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $129.85. The company has a market capitalization of $223.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.83%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,518,539,000 after buying an additional 2,711,586 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after buying an additional 2,323,807 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 13,194.9% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,679,805 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $191,515,000 after buying an additional 1,667,170 shares during the last quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 47.1% during the third quarter. Sessa Capital IM L.P. now owns 3,749,502 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $427,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22,372.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,201,364 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $135,886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,196,018 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.