Evercore ISI Raises Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target to $124.00

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price objective raised by Evercore ISI from $120.00 to $124.00 in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

ABT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an outperform rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a hold rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Three equities 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 company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $124.33.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $112.23 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.96, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $89.67 and a fifty-two 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 company has a fifty day moving average of $112.22 and a 200 day moving average of $108.22.

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. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.54%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. First Citizens Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $207,000. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $401,000. Apella Capital LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the third quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 6,191 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.3% during the third quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 66,470 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,578,000 after purchasing an additional 3,330 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers Trust Co. now owns 24,781 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,825,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during 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.