Evercore ISI Issues Positive Forecast for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Price

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Evercore ISI to $136.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Stock Target Advisor reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Evercore ISI’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 20.07% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Mizuho raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.57.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock traded up $0.16 on Thursday, hitting $113.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 906,900 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,594,505. The firm has a market cap of $196.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $115.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.07. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ABT. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 228,448 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 41,557 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.