Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Stock

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price objective upped by stock analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $145.00 to $147.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price points to a potential upside of 11.54% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on ABT. Leerink Partnrs raised Abbott Laboratories to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, June 16th. Barclays boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $158.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $132.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Finally, Leerink Partners started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a research note on Monday, June 16th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $143.00 target price for the company. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $144.33.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $131.79 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Abbott Laboratories has a 12 month low of $99.71 and a 12 month high of $141.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $133.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.32. The stock has a market cap of $229.30 billion, a PE ratio of 17.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.07 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 19.01% and a net margin of 31.89%. The business had revenue of $10.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.38 billion. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, Director Sally E. Blount sold 2,600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.66, for a total value of $337,116.00. Following the sale, the director owned 34,058 shares in the company, valued at $4,415,960.28. This represents a 7.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.7% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 169,823,136 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $22,527,039,000 after buying an additional 1,177,739 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $7,688,160,000 after buying an additional 2,229,026 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,097,005 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $6,118,903,000 after purchasing an additional 795,073 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,668,834 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $4,023,027,000 after purchasing an additional 765,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 12.8% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,763,415 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,948,117,000 after purchasing an additional 3,371,113 shares during the last quarter. 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.