Analysts Set Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Target Price at $121.50

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $121.50.

ABT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Raymond James reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,787 shares of company stock worth $4,098,073. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded down $0.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $104.67. The company had a trading volume of 5,807,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,563,603. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.82. The company has a market cap of $182.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.18%. Abbott Laboratories's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

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.