Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $122.14.

Several analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a "c+" rating to a "b-" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 1.6 %

Abbott Laboratories stock traded down $1.78 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $109.11. 4,041,615 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,799,869. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $189.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The business's 50-day moving average price is $114.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.44.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.19. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories's payout ratio is 67.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,444,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is 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.