William Blair Upgrades Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) to Strong-Buy

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at William Blair to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $141.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 16th. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $145.00 price target (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $144.47.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 2.7%

Shares of ABT stock traded up $3.30 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $123.81. 19,570,335 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,224,928. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.78. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.92 and a one year high of $141.23. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $132.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $129.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $215.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.26. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 32.43% and a return on equity of 18.83%. The firm had revenue of $11.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories's revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total transaction of $337,116.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,415,960.28. The trade was a 7.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,373,461,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth approximately $1,658,180,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $945,453,000 after purchasing an additional 6,628,310 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker's stock worth $2,120,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616,471 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.