Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Jefferies Financial Group Analyst Says

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price target raised by Jefferies Financial Group from $135.00 to $137.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 4.58% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on ABT. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $138.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $131.00 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $130.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.84. Abbott Laboratories has a 1 year low of $99.71 and a 1 year high of $141.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $227.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The firm had revenue of $10.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total transaction of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,373,461,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 383.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,358,698 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $945,453,000 after acquiring an additional 6,628,310 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $635,056,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15,420.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,102,648 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $676,866,000 after purchasing an additional 5,069,771 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,688,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,229,026 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.