Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target Raised to $145.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price objective increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $140.00 to $145.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. StockNews.com cut Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $117.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Four research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.59.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

NYSE ABT opened at $131.00 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $130.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $121.72. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $99.71 and a 12-month high of $141.23. The stock 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. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.59 per share. This represents a $2.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio is 30.85%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Eric Shroff sold 562 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.17, for a total transaction of $77,651.54. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,970 shares in the company, valued at $4,417,294.90. This trade represents a 1.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 91,167 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 71,928 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,625,404.96. This trade represents a 55.90 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 116,449 shares of company stock worth $15,463,316. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 168,645,397 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $19,075,481,000 after acquiring an additional 739,260 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 67,972,953 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $7,688,160,000 after buying an additional 2,229,026 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 54,097,005 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $6,118,903,000 after acquiring an additional 795,073 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 worth $4,023,027,000 after purchasing an additional 765,636 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 26,392,302 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $2,985,233,000 after purchasing an additional 581,325 shares during the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.