Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday after Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on the stock from $130.00 to $135.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Abbott Laboratories traded as high as $121.67 and last traded at $121.78, with a volume of 5475248 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $117.78.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ABT. Custom Index Systems LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at about $209,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth $886,000. Caprock Group LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 54,097 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $6,119,000 after purchasing an additional 6,022 shares during the last quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,855 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 831 shares during the period. Finally, Powers Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,073 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $348,000 after buying an additional 132 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 4.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $114.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.08. The stock has a market cap of $213.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11,029,400 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

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.