Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $131.57.

ABT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 5th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.7 %

ABT stock opened at $113.12 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $196.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.38, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.60.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ABT. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 76,720,429 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,746,896,000 after purchasing an additional 2,323,807 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 34,903,198 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,963,974,000 after buying an additional 488,764 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 25,810,977 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,942,709,000 after acquiring an additional 280,441 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 25.6% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 13,319,347 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,518,539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,102,204 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,265,762,000 after purchasing an additional 585,915 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.