Abbott Laboratories Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.59 (NYSE:ABT)

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, February 21st, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of 0.59 per share by the healthcare product maker on Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%.

Abbott Laboratories has increased its dividend payment by an average of 7.2% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 53 consecutive years. Abbott Laboratories has a payout ratio of 41.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Abbott Laboratories to earn $5.73 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.36 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 41.2%.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of ABT opened at $135.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.60. Abbott Laboratories has a 52-week low of $99.71 and a 52-week high of $135.41. The firm has a market cap of $234.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s fifty day moving average is $120.75 and its 200-day moving average is $116.88.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.74% and a net margin of 31.95%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 EPS. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 5.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on ABT shares. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $158.00 target price (up from $149.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Argus raised Abbott Laboratories to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.06.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, EVP Daniel Gesua Sive Salvadori sold 23,771 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.50, for a total value of $3,054,573.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 125,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,152,064.50. The trade was a 15.90 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.