Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Earns Overweight Rating from Analysts at Piper Sandler Companies

Investment analysts at Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in a research note issued on Thursday, Stock Target Advisor reports. The brokerage set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price target on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Piper Sandler Companies’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.04% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.33.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE ABT opened at $114.87 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $110.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.61. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.83 billion, a PE ratio of 35.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The firm had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.8% in the second quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 11,165 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 3,002 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Wynn Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 2.9% during the first quarter. Wynn Capital LLC now owns 3,427 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $390,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% in the first quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC now owns 5,396 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $613,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 8,290 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $942,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 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.