Mizuho Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) had its price target hoisted by Mizuho from $130.00 to $140.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the healthcare product maker's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, June 16th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $143.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.74.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $3.81 on Wednesday, reaching $124.32. The company had a trading volume of 9,989,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,237,930. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $133.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $129.38. The firm has a market cap of $216.30 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.89% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The firm had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is presently 30.61%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 169,823,136 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $22,527,039,000 after buying an additional 1,177,739 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $7,688,160,000 after buying an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,097,005 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $6,118,903,000 after buying an additional 795,073 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $4,023,027,000 after buying an additional 765,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,763,415 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $3,948,117,000 after buying an additional 3,371,113 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.