Barclays Increases Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target to $143.00

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price objective raised by Barclays from $140.00 to $143.00 in a report issued on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $124.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a buy rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $121.00.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $110.15 on Monday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $89.67 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $191.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $104.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 61,462 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.