Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Price

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price target upped by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $117.00 to $127.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 3.25% from the company’s current price.

ABT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Argus upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.53.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of ABT stock traded up $1.57 on Thursday, hitting $131.27. The stock had a trading volume of 2,666,785 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,043,551. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $227.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The business has a 50 day moving average of $130.64 and a 200 day moving average of $121.60. 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 (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. As a group, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total value of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,277,222.77. The trade was a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. The trade was a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. 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.