Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Updates Q2 Earnings Guidance

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) updated its second quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided EPS guidance of $1.08-1.12 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $1.12. Abbott Laboratories also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.550-4.700 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ABT. Citigroup lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TheStreet raised Abbott Laboratories from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an outperform rating and issued a $128.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $121.54.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $105.90 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $183.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $89.67 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $114.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.59.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.95 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.48%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,895,094.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 963 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $114,115.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,895,094.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FIL Ltd boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 595.8% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 185,778 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $20,449,000 after acquiring an additional 159,078 shares during the period. Burford Brothers Inc. bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $345,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at about $99,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 13,005 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the period. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 8,627 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $950,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by 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.