Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Hits Expectations

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11,029,400 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 EPS.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT opened at $116.78 on Wednesday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $121.64. The stock has a market cap of $202.55 billion, a PE ratio of 35.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.73. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $114.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.95.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Investors of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 71.73%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $107.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.93.

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.