Analysts Set Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target at $130.71

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $130.71.

ABT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler Companies started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed 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.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT stock opened at $114.23 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.56. The company has a market capitalization of $198.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.72, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $99.71 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.73%.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Simplify Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 5,664 shares during the last quarter. Dundas Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $34,313,000 after purchasing an additional 6,897 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,091,000 after purchasing an additional 31,720 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 30.5% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 107,308 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $12,234,000 after purchasing an additional 25,052 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MONECO Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 110.1% in the 3rd quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 31,148 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,551,000 after buying an additional 16,325 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.