Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $4.55-4.70 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $4.62. Abbott Laboratories also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.550-4.700 EPS.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 3.0 %

NYSE ABT traded down $3.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $105.90. 11,999,074 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,677,717. 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 firm has a market cap of $183.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50 day moving average of $114.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.59. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $89.67 and a 52-week high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. Abbott Laboratories's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories's dividend payout ratio is currently 67.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ABT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $128.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $122.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories 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 value of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Abbott Laboratories 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 value of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,895,094.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 in the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $131,000. United Bank raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 7.2% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 27,280 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $3,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,826 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 813,253 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $96,257,000 after purchasing an additional 15,521 shares during the last quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% during the first quarter. Kinneret Advisory LLC now owns 19,467 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lumature Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 636.2% during the first quarter. Lumature Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 1,915 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.