Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.59

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, December 13th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.59 per share by the healthcare product maker on Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55.

Abbott Laboratories has increased its dividend by an average of 12.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 53 consecutive years. Abbott Laboratories has a dividend payout ratio of 42.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Abbott Laboratories to earn $5.14 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 42.8%.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of ABT opened at $113.38 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $116.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ABT. Piper Sandler Companies began coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $131.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.71.

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.