Barclays Cuts Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target to $140.00

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its target price trimmed by Barclays from $141.00 to $140.00 in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ABT. Citigroup upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $106.89 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.64. Abbott Laboratories has a 52 week low of $89.67 and a 52 week high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $113.90 and a 200-day moving average of $107.97.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The company had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 68.54%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.