Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Receives $121.80 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $121.80.

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Edward Jones cut shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Down 0.4 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $116.40 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market cap of $202.49 billion, a PE ratio of 36.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.57. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.65% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.37 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.