Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02, RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 14.27% and a return on equity of 20.65%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $105.27 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $182.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $89.67 and a 12 month high of $121.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $114.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.57.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 67.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Wahed Invest LLC raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 888.9% during the 4th quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 270,163 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 242,843 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TheStreet upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.31.

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.