Piper Sandler Boosts Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target to $133.00

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price objective raised by Piper Sandler from $131.00 to $133.00 in a research report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on ABT. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $120.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 target price (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, October 14th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.67.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $119.39 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $91.64 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.19, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $113.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.48.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.55 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.