Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Updates Q2 Earnings Guidance

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) updated its second quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of $1.08-1.12 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12. Abbott Laboratories also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.550-4.700 EPS.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $121.31.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $105.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $182.66 billion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.57.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 3,236 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,275 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Landaas & Co. WI ADV increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Landaas & Co. WI ADV now owns 5,534 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,029 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,371,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Staley Capital Advisers Inc. increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 26,391 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,897,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.