Raymond James Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at Raymond James from $132.00 to $142.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Raymond James’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 8.39% from the stock’s current price.

ABT has been the subject of a number of other reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE ABT opened at $131.00 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $227.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.80. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $141.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.60, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $130.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.84.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.38 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $133.82, for a total value of $12,199,967.94. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 71,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,625,404.96. This represents a 55.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 949 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $131,123.33. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 74,381 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,277,222.77. This trade represents a 1.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Redwood Park Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Abbott Laboratories by 78.4% during the 4th quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 239 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 75.18% of the stock is 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.