Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has raised its target price for Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $146.00, indicating a potential upside of 13.23% from the previous close.
• Several other research firms have issued strong buy ratings and target prices between $145.00 and $150.00, contributing to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for the stock.
• Abbott Laboratories reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.30 for the last quarter, meeting consensus estimates, with a revenue increase of 6.9% year-over-year.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) had its target price increased by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $142.00 to $146.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the healthcare product maker's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price would indicate a potential upside of 13.23% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on ABT. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $145.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $127.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Friday, October 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $147.44.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE:ABT traded down $0.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $128.94. The stock had a trading volume of 827,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,590,871. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $110.86 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The stock has a market cap of $224.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.69. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $132.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a current ratio of 1.82.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.30. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.32%. The business had revenue of $11.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.21 EPS. Abbott Laboratories's revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.180 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total value of $746,752.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 51,003 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,862,453.65. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ABT. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 51,719 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $5,850,000 after buying an additional 4,755 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 17.0% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 38,467 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $5,103,000 after purchasing an additional 5,590 shares during the period. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% during the first quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 3,080 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $408,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 23.6% during the first quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 12,322 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $1,635,000 after purchasing an additional 2,352 shares during the period. Finally, Harrell Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $216,000. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company's stock.

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.

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