Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-three research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seventeen have given a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $147.00.

Several research analysts have issued reports on ABT shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $159.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. William Blair upgraded shares of Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $147.00 price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Thursday, October 16th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets upped their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $134.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ABT. Triumph Capital Management bought a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 3rd quarter worth about $92,000. AIA Group Ltd raised its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 51.5% during the 3rd quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 103,474 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $13,859,000 after buying an additional 35,180 shares during the period. Farmers National Bank boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 22.1% in the third quarter. Farmers National Bank now owns 9,192 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,662 shares in the last quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Abbott Laboratories in the third quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the third quarter valued at approximately $550,000. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $124.53 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $216.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.60, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $110.86 and a twelve month high of $141.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $126.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.82.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 15th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30. The firm had revenue of $11.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.40 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 17.60% and a net margin of 31.88%.The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.21 EPS. Abbott Laboratories has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.120-5.180 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.63 per share. This is a positive change from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 15th. This represents a $2.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is 29.57%.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories is a global healthcare company headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, that develops, manufactures and markets a broad portfolio of medical products and services. Founded in 1888, Abbott operates through multiple business areas that focus on diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and established pharmaceuticals. The company supplies hospitals, clinics, laboratories, retailers and direct-to-consumer channels with products intended to diagnose, treat and manage a wide range of health conditions.

In diagnostics, Abbott provides laboratory and point-of-care testing platforms and assays used to detect infectious diseases, chronic conditions and biomarkers; its Alinity family of instruments and rapid-test solutions are examples of this capability.