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

Key Points

• Barclays has raised its price target for Abbott Laboratories from $159.00 to $162.00, indicating a potential upside of 27.18% from the current stock price and maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• Several analysts, including Jefferies Financial Group and Mizuho, have also increased their price targets for Abbott, with an overall consensus price target of $147.61.
• Abbott Laboratories reported earnings of $1.30 per share for the last quarter, matching analysts' expectations, and its revenue increased by 6.9% year-over-year to $11.37 billion.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) had its price target increased by equities researchers at Barclays from $159.00 to $162.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the healthcare product maker's stock. Barclays's price objective indicates a potential upside of 27.18% from the company's current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $147.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $144.00 to $142.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $147.61.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $127.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.30. The company has a market cap of $221.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $132.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $131.56. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $110.86 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 17.78%. The business had revenue of $11.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.21 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.180 EPS. Analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total value of $746,752.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,862,453.65. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 172,800,851 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $23,502,644,000 after acquiring an additional 2,977,715 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 78,354,270 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $10,656,964,000 after buying an additional 689,517 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.8% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 38,293,067 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $5,184,589,000 after acquiring an additional 1,390,554 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,763,415 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock valued at $3,948,117,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371,113 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,026,180,000. 75.18% of the stock is owned by 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.

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