Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target Raised to $145.00

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price objective upped by Royal Bank of Canada from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

ABT has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $131.00 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. 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 stock has a market cap of $227.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $130.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.95% and a return on equity of 20.74%. On average, research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total transaction of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing 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 valued at $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 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.