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

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its target price hoisted by Barclays from $159.00 to $162.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $142.00 to $146.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $145.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $153.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $147.61.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

ABT opened at $128.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.98 billion, a PE ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.69. The business’s 50-day moving average is $132.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $131.54. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $110.86 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.82 and a quick ratio of 1.30.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 17.78%. The business had revenue of $11.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.21 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.180 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 17th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 15th will be given a $0.59 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Philip P. Boudreau sold 5,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.55, for a total value of $746,752.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 51,003 shares in the company, valued at $6,862,453.65. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,026,180,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,658,180,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 13,347.0% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,056,934 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $823,804,000 after purchasing an additional 6,011,891 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 29.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,985,797 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,120,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,616,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,763,415 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,948,117,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371,113 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.