Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-one analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $122.37.

ABT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $116.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $136.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 20th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $115.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 30th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 19th.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $104.04 on Thursday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $93.25 and a 1 year high of $118.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $105.57 and its 200-day moving average is $106.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $180.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 4.85 and a beta of 0.67.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 19th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $9.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.64 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 22.36% and a net margin of 13.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 18.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.73 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total transaction of $68,375.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,427 shares in the company, valued at $7,091,998.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 679 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $68,375.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 70,427 shares in the company, valued at $7,091,998.90. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Randel William Woodgrift sold 1,032 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.70, for a total value of $103,922.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 52,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,256,842.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 59,937 shares of company stock valued at $6,632,764. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,320,866,000 after buying an additional 30,218,560 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,893,715,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 40.5% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,820,152 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,108,249,000 after purchasing an additional 6,003,997 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,278,132,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886,954 shares during the period. Finally, Providence Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Abbott Laboratories by 9,803.3% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,767,458 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $47,081,000 after buying an additional 4,719,318 shares during the period. 72.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Abbott Laboratories

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Abbott Laboratories engages in the discovery, development, manufacture, and sale of a broad and diversified line of health care products. It operates through the following business segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The Established Pharmaceutical Products segment refers to the international sales of a line of branded generic pharmaceutical products.