Brokerages Set Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Target Price at $130.71

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $130.71.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT opened at $115.27 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.79. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $121.64. The company has a market capitalization of $199.93 billion, a PE ratio of 35.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.01. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business had revenue of $10.64 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Syntax Research Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth about $2,280,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 6.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,710,023 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $194,960,000 after acquiring an additional 109,500 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% during the third quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 26,015 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,966,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter worth $648,000. Finally, Fidelity D & D Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter worth $269,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.