Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Abbott Laboratories from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $119.00 to $127.00 in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Wolfe Research upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $112.00 to $119.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, BTIG Research lowered their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.32.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 1.0%

ABT stock opened at $104.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $181.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.38. The business’s 50-day moving average is $105.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.61. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $81.97 and a fifty-two week high of $132.02.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The healthcare product maker reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.42. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 9.75% and a return on equity of 17.97%. The firm had revenue of $13.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.03%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 84,377 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $8,339,000 after acquiring an additional 10,431 shares in the last quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth $658,000. Aureus Asset Management LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 25.0% in the first quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC now owns 331,920 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $34,078,000 after purchasing an additional 66,422 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 786.0% during the second quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,061 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,276,000 after purchasing an additional 12,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories during the second quarter valued at $4,889,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

Abbott Laboratories Company Profile

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company that develops, manufactures and markets a broad range of medical products and services. Founded in 1888 by Wallace C. Abbott, the company is headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, and serves patients, healthcare providers and consumers in markets around the world.

Abbott operates across four principal businesses: medical devices, diagnostics, nutrition and established pharmaceutical products. Its offerings include glucose-monitoring systems such as FreeStyle Libre; cardiovascular devices, including stents and structural heart products; laboratory and point-of-care diagnostic systems; and branded generic medicines in areas such as gastroenterology, women’s health and cardiometabolic care.

The company’s nutrition portfolio includes infant and pediatric products such as Similac and PediaSure, adult nutritional products such as Ensure, and rehydration products such as Pedialyte.