Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Upgraded by Argus to Strong-Buy Rating

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) was upgraded by equities researchers at Argus to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $131.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.06.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 0.7 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $128.75 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $115.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. The stock has a market cap of $223.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.83, a PEG ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.73. Abbott Laboratories has a fifty-two week low of $99.71 and a fifty-two week high of $129.85.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.03 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Monument Capital Management grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,972 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 16,032 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,813,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter worth about $2,359,000. Finally, Lee Financial Co lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Lee Financial Co now owns 16,217 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. 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.