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

Jefferies Financial Group reiterated their hold rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a $120.00 price objective on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on ABT. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Edward Jones downgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI cut 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a buy rating and a $121.00 price objective on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $124.00.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Down 0.3 %

ABT stock opened at $112.43 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $195.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.02, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.72. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $111.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.28. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 220,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,467,081 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $17,222,332,000 after purchasing an additional 701,740 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $16,764,000. Garde Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 1,858 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Sectoral Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,998 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,595,000 after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 894,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $98,490,000 after buying an additional 8,224 shares in the last quarter. 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.