Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02, RTT News reports. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.65% and a net margin of 14.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.03 earnings per share.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

Shares of ABT stock opened at $105.27 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.57. The company has a market cap of $182.66 billion, a PE ratio of 32.29, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Abbott Laboratories has a 12-month low of $89.67 and a 12-month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.48%.

Insider Transactions at Abbott Laboratories

In other news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,315,537.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total transaction of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.50, for a total transaction of $4,781,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 65,027 shares in the company, valued at $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 156,444,700 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $17,219,868,000 after acquiring an additional 679,359 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 38,966,499 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $4,278,132,000 after acquiring an additional 4,886,954 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 104,649.4% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,247,436 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,320,866,000 after acquiring an additional 30,218,560 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth about $1,893,715,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,299,250 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,573,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873,411 shares in the last quarter. 75.18% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ABT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. TheStreet upgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 21st. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.31.

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.