Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) Price Target Raised to $136.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) had its price objective raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $133.00 to $136.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the healthcare product maker’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Abbott Laboratories to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $129.00 price target (up previously from $122.00) on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $133.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Abbott Laboratories from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Abbott Laboratories presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.50.

Abbott Laboratories Price Performance

Abbott Laboratories stock opened at $123.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.60 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Abbott Laboratories has a one year low of $99.71 and a one year high of $123.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.44, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $114.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.08.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The healthcare product maker reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.99%. The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11,029,400 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.67 EPS for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 14th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, January 15th will be issued a $0.59 dividend. This is a boost from Abbott Laboratories’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.55. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, January 15th. This represents a $2.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Abbott Laboratories

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bath Savings Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 166,132 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $18,791,000 after purchasing an additional 5,881 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories by 67.3% in the 3rd quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,083 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $1,606,000 after buying an additional 5,664 shares during the period. Pensionfund Sabic purchased a new position in shares of Abbott Laboratories during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,828,000. Dundas Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% during the second quarter. Dundas Partners LLP now owns 330,227 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $34,313,000 after acquiring an additional 6,897 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 19.6% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 193,764 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $22,091,000 after acquiring an additional 31,720 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.