Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target Raised to $142.00 at Raymond James

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its target price upped by Raymond James from $132.00 to $142.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. Raymond James currently has an outperform rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $136.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.0 %

ABT opened at $131.00 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company’s 50-day moving average is $130.63 and its 200 day moving average is $121.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,417,294.90. The trade was a 1.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 116,449 shares of company stock valued at $15,463,316 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.