Barclays Issues Positive Forecast for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Price

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its target price raised by Barclays from $143.00 to $149.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $119.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price objective (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.07.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ABT opened at $117.69 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $115.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.02. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $92.43 and a 52-week high of $121.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.72.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 66.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Robert B. Ford sold 141,679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.41, for a total value of $16,492,852.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 220,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,617,068.19. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 165,301,921 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $18,788,216,000 after buying an additional 8,834,840 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 70,177,564 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,976,382,000 after purchasing an additional 5,882,780 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,675,827 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,103,997,000 after purchasing an additional 508,524 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 27.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,428,752 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $771,940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,596,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,683,586 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $761,996,000 after purchasing an additional 524,683 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.