Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives $142.59 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $142.59.

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $145.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Insider Activity

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 34,058 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,415,960.28. This trade represents a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ABT. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Elequin Capital LP acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $1.04 on Friday, hitting $135.41. The company had a trading volume of 3,927,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,092,559. 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 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $235.59 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $131.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.25.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.61%.

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.