Raymond James Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities researchers at Raymond James in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Stock Target Advisor reports. They currently have a $124.00 price target on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Raymond James’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 15.27% from the stock’s current price.

ABT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Citigroup increased their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.5 %

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $107.57 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $186.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $114.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.97. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total value of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total value of $4,781,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Abbott Laboratories by 65.3% in the third quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 762 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 147.0% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 31,159 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,018,000 after purchasing an additional 18,546 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.6% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 8,235 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 4.7% during the third quarter. Syntegra Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 12,575 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,218,000 after buying an additional 562 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,805,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by 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.