Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.59

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, June 13th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 15th will be given a dividend of 0.59 per share by the healthcare product maker on Friday, August 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.74%.

Abbott Laboratories has a payout ratio of 41.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Abbott Laboratories to earn $5.73 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.2%.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock traded down $1.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $135.41. 3,927,244 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,098,055. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $235.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $131.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $126.37. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Free Report) by 10.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock after acquiring an additional 4,755 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $5,850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $142.59.

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.