Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Rating Reiterated by Raymond James

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Raymond James in a report released on Wednesday, Stock Target Advisor reports. They presently have a $124.00 target price on the healthcare product maker’s stock. Raymond James’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 16.01% from the stock’s current price.

ABT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced 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, April 18th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $126.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Abbott Laboratories from $141.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.50.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ABT opened at $106.89 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $113.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.96. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64. The company has a market cap of $185.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The healthcare product maker reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.02. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.32% and a net margin of 13.96%. The firm had revenue of $9.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.88 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Abbott Laboratories

In related news, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,223,060. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Andrea F. Wainer sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.00, for a total transaction of $1,500,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 78,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,444,480. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John A. Jr. Mccoy sold 472 shares of Abbott Laboratories stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.50, for a total value of $55,932.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 18,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,223,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,435 shares of company stock valued at $6,451,298 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ABT. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 1,677.8% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 320 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.