Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Issues FY24 Earnings Guidance

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) issued an update on its FY24 earnings guidance on Wednesday morning. The company provided EPS guidance of $4.55-4.70 for the period, compared to the consensus EPS estimate of $4.62. Abbott Laboratories also updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.550-4.700 EPS.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $125.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Raymond James increased their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $124.00 to $127.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays boosted their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $121.31.

Abbott Laboratories Trading Up 1.9 %

ABT stock opened at $107.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $186.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $114.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.65. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $89.67 and a one year high of $121.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.64 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.88 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a net margin of 13.96% and a return on equity of 20.32%. Abbott Laboratories’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.61 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Abbott Laboratories’s payout ratio is currently 68.54%.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In other Abbott Laboratories news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the 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 owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares in the company, valued at $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 42,500 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 65,027 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,315,537.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock worth $6,451,298 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FIL Ltd grew its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 595.8% during the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 185,778 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $20,449,000 after buying an additional 159,078 shares in the last quarter. Burford Brothers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the 4th quarter worth approximately $345,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC bought a new position in Abbott Laboratories in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $99,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC raised its position in Abbott Laboratories by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 13,005 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oarsman Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 8,627 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $950,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 75.18% of the company’s stock.

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.