Analysts Set Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Target Price at $131.57

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $131.57.

ABT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Groupama Asset Managment grew its stake in 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 289 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $113.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $114.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is a boost 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 2.08%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.87%.

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.