Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives "Outperform" Rating from Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada has reaffirmed its "outperform" rating for Abbott Laboratories with a price target of $147.00, suggesting a potential upside of 14.01% from the stock's previous close.
• Abbott Laboratories reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, in line with consensus estimates, and showed a 6.9% year-over-year revenue increase.
• The stock has received a range of ratings from analysts, with two strong buy ratings, sixteen buy ratings, and four hold ratings, leading to an average rating of "Moderate Buy."

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "outperform" rating reaffirmed by Royal Bank Of Canada in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $147.00 price target on the healthcare product maker's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.01% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on ABT. William Blair upgraded Abbott Laboratories to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $147.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $147.44.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of ABT stock traded down $0.51 on Thursday, reaching $128.94. 827,660 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,590,871. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.30. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $110.86 and a one year high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $224.41 billion, a PE ratio of 16.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $132.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $131.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.30. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 18.32% and a net margin of 32.43%.The company had revenue of $11.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.21 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.180 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total value of $746,752.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares in the company, valued at $6,862,453.65. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate 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. Avanza Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the second quarter. Avanza Fonder AB now owns 168,401 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $22,904,000 after buying an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Madrona Financial Services LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9.7% during the second quarter. Madrona Financial Services LLC now owns 1,726 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $235,000 after buying an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.4% in the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 669,868 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $91,109,000 after buying an additional 73,780 shares during the last quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 18.6% during the first quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 18,294 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $2,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,873 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 49.8% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 1,507,268 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $199,939,000 after purchasing an additional 501,200 shares during the period. 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.

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