Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Releases Earnings Results, Hits Estimates

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.34, Zacks reports. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.99% and a return on equity of 20.18%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11,029,400 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock opened at $123.17 on Friday. Abbott Laboratories has a 1-year low of $99.71 and a 1-year high of $123.23. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $114.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $113.08. The company has a market capitalization of $213.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.44, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $0.59 per share. This is an increase from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Raymond James restated a “buy” rating and issued a $129.00 price target (up from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $143.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.50.

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.