Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Argus

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

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of ABT stock opened at $128.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $115.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $129.85.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 4,045 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 354,435 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $40,409,000 after acquiring an additional 22,932 shares in the last quarter. Farmers Trust Co. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 24,781 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 66,470 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,578,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 6,191 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.