Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Earns “Hold” Rating from Jefferies Financial Group

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reiterated by investment analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $120.00 price target on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s target price indicates a potential upside of 6.88% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler Companies assumed coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.00.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of ABT stock traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $112.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,607,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,802,942. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $111.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.39. The company has a market capitalization of $195.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 1.68. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 52,728 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $5,479,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 920.4% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 386,000 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $40,109,000 after buying an additional 348,170 shares during the last quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. Vienna Powszechne Towarzystwo Emerytalne S.A. Vienna Insurance Group now owns 12,193 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,267,000 after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% in the 2nd quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 17,633 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,832,000 after buying an additional 1,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at approximately $453,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.