Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target Increased to $117.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $107.00 to $117.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

ABT has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $119.39 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $91.64 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $207.69 billion, a PE ratio of 37.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 38.8% during the first quarter. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC now owns 3,490 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $397,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,224 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,487,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132 shares during the last quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% during the first quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 16,378 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,862,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 10.1% during the first quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,104 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.8% in the first quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 62,287 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,080,000 after buying an additional 2,840 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.