Raymond James Reaffirms Buy Rating for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Raymond James reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Stock Target Advisor reports. They currently have a $124.00 price target on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on ABT. Barclays cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $107.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.50, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.74. 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 of $113.64 and a 200-day moving average of $108.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value 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 approximately $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value 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 approximately $7,315,537.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. James Hambro & Partners raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% in the 1st quarter. James Hambro & Partners now owns 2,171 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Phoenix Wealth Advisors bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 1st quarter worth $205,000. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. NORTHSTAR ASSET MANAGEMENT Co LLC now owns 5,396 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $613,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Conning Inc. increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 304,583 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $34,548,000 after buying an additional 3,059 shares during the period. Finally, BLB&B Advisors LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 38,160 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,337,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.