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

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $120.70.

ABT has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $105.24 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $103.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $183.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.79, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.65%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect 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 Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at $22,099,928.37. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 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.